We’ve all grown up with fairy tales – there’s evil out there but someone will save you and there’s a happily ever after just waiting around the corner. Even though the world scoffs at prince charming-like dreams, we all still secretly wait for that person on a white horse to come along and ride off into the sunset with us.

But what if it’s all a metaphor. Not literal at all?

Ok, that might be an ever-so-slightly obvious question. But what is the metaphor?

I truly think fairy tales are and do come true.

It’s just that the evil is inside you; but so is the knight in shining armour.

When we are in a place of true danger or adversary, we generally are able to pull up our socks, lift our chins in determination and say, ‘Nope. Not this time life, I’ve had enough’ and charge ahead with true bravery. But what of the ‘evil’ person that put us in the situation? Take the wicked crone who kept the kids captive in an old bird cage, fattening them up so she could eventually eat them. How did they get there? Well, they ventured where they knew they shouldn’t, then when they saw the glorious candy house, they rushed towards it to gorge themselves. Sounds a bit like an addict’s journey, doesn’t it?

It’s not like the evil old crone was the evil one – she just provided the opportunity. She didn’t make the decisions for them. She lured them, yes, but they went of their own volition. We do that all the time. We open the door, we go down that street, we pursue that person, we desire the things that we know could be bad for us. This isn’t a diatribe against risk-taking, though.

When they got there and were captured (read ‘addicted’), all was not cool. But they found the strength inside to outwit the crone. They refused to give in to her fattening up scheme – they starved themselves to get out. They did what they had to do to escape.

They were their own knights in shining armour.

As it is with most fairy tales. As it is with life.

You have the power within the be your own captor as well as your own saviour. If you are feeling captured or stuck or brought low by what ‘life’ has done to you; take a moment to consider how you got there. What path did you take to get there? Even if someone has stolen all the breadcrumbs and you’re not sure how to get back on the path you want to be on, look inside yourself to find the strength, the light, the determination to get onto a different track. Nothing is impossible – that’s true. There really is no such thing as being stuck forever. It might be tough to stop the path you’re on. It might take a massive amount of strength to escape from where you are, but it all boils down to a decision, a choice.

Make the choice to rescue yourself. Get on your own horse and ride like the wind towards the beautiful sunset. That’s not to say you won’t face obstacles or more danger once you pass the sunset mark; but you’ll do it with your knight by your side – you. Together, you can write your own ending.

It’s a glorious thing to understand and embrace the innate power inside you.