Your Happily Ever After (And a Movie Recommendation)

“The secret is this . . . you make your own happy.”
-Unknown

I just finished watching a movie on Disney Plus called “Godmothering” - starring Isla Fisher and a host of other good cast members. It’s the story of a Fairy Godmother who arrives 30 years late on the job to answer the calls for help by a 10 year old girl to help her live happily ever after. Now the girl is 40, a single mom juggling an oh-so-stressful job with an a-hole boss, a teenage daughter with confidence issues and a ten year old of her own who just wants her mom to be happy.

So much of this movie I could relate to - the exhaustion everyday of working long hours and then trying to switch gears to be present with my own daughter. And happy. And engaged. And enthusiastic … meantime my own tank’s gauge is hovering just above empty and all I want to do is collapse in a heap and examine the inside of my eyelids . . .

The Fairy Godmother arrives on the scene in spectacular fashion, screwing everything up along the way in her bid to help. Although I have to say that her summoning of the raccoon “Gary” who does all the housework all day long sounds like a dream come true. She gives the Mom a make-over, identifies her a new Prince Charming to bring her “back to life” and is determined to help the Mom fall in love again and live happily ever after.

I won’t spoil the movie because this is a great one to watch if you need uplifting. It also features a Christmas twist on one of my favorite songs “Rise Up” by Andra Day - which I think I’m going to designate as our anthem for Single Moms everywhere.

Just take a look at these lyrics:

You're broken down and tired
Of living life on a merry-go-round
And you can't find the fighter
But I see it in you so we gonna walk it out
And move mountains
We gonna walk it out
And move mountains

And I'll rise up
I'll rise like the day
I'll rise up
I'll rise unafraid
I'll rise up
And I'll do it a thousand times again
And I'll rise up
High like the waves
I'll rise up
In spite of the ache
I'll rise up
And I'll do it a thousands times again
For you
For you
For you
For you
When the silence isn't quiet
And it feels like it's getting hard to breathe
And I know you feel like dying
But I promise we'll take the world to it's feet
And move mountains
Take the world to it's feet
And move mountains
And I'll rise up
I'll rise like the day
I'll rise up
I'll rise unafraid
I'll rise up
And I'll do it a thousand times again …

Back to the movie …after many exploding pumpkins, embarrassing costume changes and cringe-worthy moments, the Mom does fall in love again - but not with a prince. She starts loving herself again, which fills her tank to be present in loving her two beautiful children and to mindfully create a life they love. Instead of just existing.

She tells her Fairy Good Mother, as she hugs her children and sister ,-” I have found my own happily ever after - it’s right here,”

It’s a powerful scene in the movie that translates much wider to every person on this planet.

All of us can find our happily ever after, whatever that means to us. And life can be so much richer if we don’t restrict it by our expectations of what we think something should look like. Happiness is always our choice.

This movie is a great reminder to create our own fairytale endings. xx