And they lived happily ever after....

I love stories! Especially good ones, if you want to keep my attention for any length of time tell me a good story and I can assure you, my time will be yours. I have been wondering where my love for stories comes from and its not hard to look very far to what might have whetted my appetite for good stories.

I still remember stories told by my mum, dad and grandfather. My mum's tales took the form of folktales and the tortoise of course was almost always my favorite character. Even when he was being mean, his exploits caused us as children immense pleasure just listening to how cleverly he spun his arguments to win over the other animals, who always only seemed to realise they had been cheated after the tortoise had his way. My dad on the other hand retold tales from books like 'Jack and the Beanstalk' I still remember him reading this story to us after tucking us in bed, he deepened his voice to imitate the giant's 'Fee fo fum, I smell the blood of an English man...'. My grandfathers retelling of the tales of 'Oluronbi' and her rash promise and other such stories was also a highlight of our evenings whenever we went to our hometown for holidays.

Anyway, the stories I love best are stories I call stories of opportunity. There is a popular tale which has gone round the internet which can best summarize the stories I refer to. Its been retold and reshaped so many times but the message it passes across is very clear. A man is walking along the beach and sees a boy picking up starfish which have been left washed up on the shore when the tide goes out and throwing them back into the ocean. He stops and asks why he is wasting his time seeing that there are thousands of star fish and he can't possibly help them all, the young boy replies that his efforts at least matter to the one or two starfish who have found their way back to the ocean.

I love to read or hear stories where someone who would never have had the opportunity to achieve anything in life is given a chance to start out and become someone great. The movie 'The Blind Side' starring Sandra Bullock is a good example of this theme. A young boy who everyone has given up on and most people ignore is helped by a woman and her family, he does very well in school and then becomes a great baseball player, its based on a true story(forgive me I have only read the reviews and not watched the movie so I cant spin a tale that will enchant you, but I hope to watch it soon).

Stories that interest me are of people saved from the brink of disaster by someone who took an interest in their lives, like the story of the class whose English teacher believed that they could make it in life even if they had dysfunctional families and backgrounds and gave up most of what she had to encourage them to do well in school and make something of their lives. Sometimes its not even the big things that make the story extraordinary, it is in the simple things like an older man recommending a younger man for a promotion because he believes he has what it takes to succeed, or a woman giving her son an extra huge smile of encouragement as he goes to try out for the basketball team or family constantly affirming that you have what it takes to become the superstar, or an old friend recommending you for a job position etc I can go on and on!

I love the happily ever after stories as I call these stories of opportunity and even if life does not play lovely cards all along the way at least our lives our interspersed with the 'happily ever tales' of someone who goes out of their way to be kind to us thus spreading light on our paths for that moment in time. So like the little boy with the starfish I enjoin you to make a difference in someone's life today, create the happily ever after in their tale today!