Once upon a time. . . or better yet, in a galaxy far, far away

To whom it may concern:

I am taking the time to officially lodge a complaint. Although I realize that it will probably not come as any shock because it is from me and having received such letters before, I am positive that this will find the same outcome as the others . . . straight into the trash and long forgotten.

I almost want to begin with an apology for not fitting into the mold. It almost seems that everyone looks for me to apologize for it and to some way change who I am because it makes them uncomfortable that I don’t. However I will not apologize, nor will I change. Honestly I believe that I am a better person for not fitting into the mold that has been created.

There have been a fair share of knights in shining armor . . . . but they never last long. Why you may ask? Well I have theories abounding but I am going to take from current research after scouring the archives.

Let me begin by stating that a knight comes looking for a rescue. The helpless princess is in distress and is being held captive in a foreign tower by a horrible creature and she can’t possibly get herself out of this awful predicament. She needs to be saved. He has to (in one way or another) pull her life together for her. He has to rescue her.

See here is where these knights don’t like that fact that I have purchased the tower, cleaned up the area and have dragon meat in the freezer waiting to be whipped into dinner for when company comes. Not only that, but they really hate that I am not even at the tower but out doing other tasks. Who, might I ask, has the time to sit around all day long waiting for a knight to show up to take care of all their problems for them?

Now the knights are always at first relieved and impressed that they can just come in and relax rather than engage in battle with the unknown. The realization that I have the ability to make decisions and to execute life productively brings huge amounts of freedom and stress relief. It doesn’t take them long to become disenchanted though. Where is the excitement of the fight? Where is the victory of proving that without him the princess would never survive?

Now if I wanted to, you are right, I could play an award winning damsel in distress. I have years of watching the best of the best do just that. The problem is that it would be deceiving and manipulative . . . two things I despise and will not tolerate. I will not trick a knight into believing that I am one person only to wake up on the morning of our honeymoon to a whole different person. It happens more often than I think most are willing to admit.

Here is where things really start to make the knight edge toward the door faster and faster. The shining armor starts to come off. He feels less and less protected. Suddenly I know where the weaknesses are in his armor. **The ironic part is that my flaws, imperfections and weaknesses have been visable from the beginning and there are a ton of them. To me he is starting to become a man verses a shining piece of hard metal. See I am not so impressed by the metal, I am more concerned with what is inside the casing. The flaws, the weaknesses, the imperfections all make him more a man and more handsome. That is where I see the real strength and light in their eyes. That is where I see where we can work together to help one another rather than making him entirely carry the load.

Now with all of this said and so much more floating through my conscious mind, I have to also fill you in on a little secret that if they would just learn to look from a different angle might make for not only a happily ever after, but a true life happily ever after. I may not be a damsel in distress but I want nothing more than to be treated like a lady. Not like a spoiled princess, but a lady.

Yes, I have the strength and ability to do for myself but that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel incredibly loved and grateful when a man does them for me . . . and believe me he will be rewarded very generously. I don’t have to be hand coddled or carry mood swing warnings. This doesn’t mean that I am not human, but it also means that he won’t have to hide out afraid at what he will find when he gets home from storming castles everyday. I know that the way that I need a knight is so far off the path of what they are taught in school that they miss just how much I need and appreciate them. I am never quite sure how to relay this though and have it understood.

So my complaint is that far too often the training of these knights doesn’t include finding someone that can stand beside them and fight for all that is dear rather than someone that cowers in the background demanding that they take all the burdens on themselves. It has got to be tiring and lonely to always have to be the one doing the fighting.