The Cinderella Story

"...outta nowhere.  A former greenskeeper now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac... It's in the hole! It's in the hole! It's in the hole!"
-Carl Spackler, "Caddyshack"


While the "outta nowhere" metaphor is the image that is conjured up whenever we hear the "Cinderella Story" phrase in a sound-bite, is that really what it's all about?


Not quite.  There's actually a much deeper message.  It can be a terrifying one, and it basically screams at us the fundamental premise of the human condition--that our moments on Earth are finite, and we have knowledge of it.


You see, Cinderella was given clear boundaries on the time to live her dream--and it was going to end at midnight.  What a horrendously cruel joke to give someone 6 hours to experience their dream, and know that it comes to a screeching halt when the clock runs down.


Amazingly, I was forced into this situation several years ago.  My family was vacationing at Disneyworld, and we were randomly selected to spend the night (specifically that night) in Cinderella's castle, and be treated like VIP's for the evening.  What an amazing opportunity that most everyone would love to experience!  However, as soon as we moved our luggage into the luxurious castle suite, I had a shudder come over me that "the clock was ticking."  How do we spend every moment of this opportunity that will come to a definite end in the morning?  Do we want to waste any time sleeping, or do we just stay up all night and experience the castle?  Clearly this wasn't an option as we had young kids.


What came over me instead was a desire to focus on the moment, this moment, and ignore the obvious time boundaries of the experience.  It was in all honesty, a defense mechanism, brought about because I did not want to ruin my family's enjoyment of potentially some memories that we'd carry with us for the rest of our lives.  So I put on my mouse ears and became a passive observer of each moment, instead of giving in to my overwhelming desire to plan out each of the remaining 12 hours or so that were left in the prize.  I realized that we were personally experiencing the Cinderella story, and staying in her castle to rub our faces in it.


What I discovered was something I call "living on the wave front".  I think it comes about by staying on the front side of our reaction and staying in a passive observing mode.  It's like living in the moment, staying focused just ahead of our moody reactions to people, places and events.  Not allowing the mind to drift too far backward or too far forward.  It's like surfing the moment--staying right on the face of the wave.  For me, I'm staying ahead of my mind's tendency to judge people and events.  Surfing life this way is ego-less and effortless, and allows for joy to creep into your experiences.  


So what does the Cinderella story tell me now?  We should live each moment of each day as though the clock is ticking, because it is. 


I'm Roy Obadiah and these are my rants.