The Cinderella Complex
“The greatest gift we can give ourselves is the gift of believing in our dreams.” – Cinderella
Life is complex. I feel that the modern person with all their duties is similar to the heroine in Cinderella. She was too busy with immediate urgent tasks of surviving her step-sisters and stepmother’s demands to look within and manifest her own abundance which was making her dress (building wealth) and going to the ball (living with joy), that she was only able to accomplish these with the help of her fairy Godmother.
I think many of us have a sort of Cinderella complex, the daily hardship haze especially if we are the strength and support system of our families. We are busy all day doing other people’s tasks and expectations’ of us it feels like we never get to our own. We are told to accept little, that current economic circumstances make things worse, things will get harder, always more to struggle for. The only reprieve we may have is when the fairy Godmother transforms us briefly to go and dance with a prince – which in the modern world is a vacation, ideally to a place with a swim up bar!
You are too busy all day long doing life’s bidding (your step sisters demands). You always intend to feed your passions and dreams through actions (making your dress to go to the royal ball) but by the end of the day you never even get your routine work finished and you are exhausted and fall into bed to start is all over the next day – your project unstarted, your passion undernourished.
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To take the Cinderella analogy further, we wait until we hit that future milestone (marry the prince) to start living our dreams. We short change ourselves. We misuse our resources and undervalue our divine gifts in this world. It is a pattern in people when they are planning their goals to meet the needs of society’s expectations (the demands of the ugly step sisters and step mother) first, and leave their own goals untended. I think this is a shame.
We can easily fall under the spell of believing we are too busy to pursue the charmed life. To look for that new job that will pay us more fairly for our skills, too busy to start that writing course, too busy to really be there for those that mean the most to us. We short change ourselves and we deserve better. You deserve the magical time at the ball and to marry that prince (joy in each day and merging of spiritual and material abundance with your daily life).
Through her focus and intentions, she was given divine assistance to help her manifest a better life through the animals around her and her fairy Godmother. Your soul’s call is as important as everyone else’s’ and, dear reader, you can give yourself permission to pay yourself first.
I invite you to take simple actions to change this today (which I detail more in my book). Start paying yourself first. With money and with your time. As the Fairy Godmother said: “The magic is in the preparation…Even Miracles take a little time.”
1. Invest a minimum of $100 per month towards your goal.
2. Spend a minimum of one hour a day doing what is important to you.
You can have a charmed life. You can stop living reactively and put the optimal financial support (your fairy Godmother) around those dreams. Focus your resources on what is important and avoid the filler. Live a charmed life – your happily ever after.
About the Author
Dr. Cora Pettipas, CFP is an award-winning global financial strategist, bestselling author, and creator of the Compass Star PATH system. Through her writing, speaking, and financial planning work, she helps individuals build Passion, Abundance, Time, and Health into their lives.
Learn more about Dr. Cora Pettipas by clicking here.
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Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not personal financial advice.