Living on the Edge of a Fairytale

I had it all figured out.

Riding on the bus from Paris to eastern France, I could imagine our romantic weekend in the countryside town. I had done my research and found a place to stay in a town that was on the "Ten Most Enchanting Villages in France" list: Colmar, France. It includes an area called "little Venice," streets bordered with magical canals, and every avenue lined with flowers.

It was going to be a fairytale.

On this trip we are having to make decisions on when we can invest a bit to go somewhere a little out of the way and when we have to hold back and continue this experience "on the cheap." This weekend was off the "planned" path a bit, but fairytales are worth it, right?

We arrived at the bus station, reviewed a map or two and started toward our destination, all bags in tow.

As we walked Daniel and I started disagreeing. "You think it's that way?" and "I'm pretty sure it's this way," marked our dialogue which turned quickly into, "Are you listening to me?" and, "Why aren't you including me in decisions?" Two previously independent travelers suddenly having to figure it out together. On top of having an unexpected "discussion" I was not seeing any magical canals.

We moved further and further from anything that could be described as cute into the French ghetto. Eventually we found ourselves on the other side of the tracks in a very tiny, slightly dirty hot-box hotel room, complete with deafening freight trains flying by every five minutes and constant cigarette smoke wafting in from the windows.

This was not the fairytale that I had imagined.

Expectations.

This word has the ability to make or break experiences. In travel. In life. I don't think expectations are always bad, but left unchecked, they can definitely lead to disappointment.

When my idealistic expectations for this experience were not met, I temporarily crumbled. The day we arrived in Colmar, I was unhappy and upset at our choice to come here. Even after we were able to explore away from our hotel and find those flower-lined canals, I could only see the tourists and smallness of the area that was beautiful.

I could only see that my expectations were unmet.

Expectations can equal control. I expect something, I'm in control, the end. But this is not reality.

Slowly, I'm learning to let go of my expectations and to embrace what's in front of me. Not an easy process, but a necessary one.

Thankfully, there is perspective. Thankfully there is the choice to let go of expectation and embrace thankfulness. Thankfully I have a patient husband to stand with me as I learn to make this choice.

After making the wrong decision to have a bad attitude for about a day and a half, I was eventually able to come to a point of deciding to see and appreciate where I am and who I am with. For goodness sake, I'm France with the one I love. And it's really beautiful.

This trip is not going to be what we expect. This life is not going to be what we expect.

But when we can release expectations it's going to be a lot easier to see the fairytales that are often right in front of us.