After much cajoling and a promise to buy her a bar of chocolate later, my four year old niece sat in my lap and blabbered on about how much she loved Elsa, the Disney character from the animated movie Frozen. She went on and on about how happy she was that I had bought her the night suits that her mom promised she could wear the next day after they were washed . Little pleasures! It was all going very well until, as an eager-to-please adult, I told her I loved Elsa too. She replied suddenly getting upset , “No massi , you can’t like Elsa, she’s mine!” She told me how she didn’t approve of her best friend liking Elsa too because she loved her and only she could like her!

So I smiled and told her, “I like Elsa because you like her”. She looked visibly relieved and answered “No,You choose your own princess”.”Woah!”, I said “Then I like you, you are my favorite Princess!”

“Choose your own princess” sounded convincing enough ! Just as you choose your own bag, choose your own dress and choose you own indulgences!! I wonder how sometimes we, as adults, fail to follow our own choices and make those (the choices) of others around us, our own!
So when a friend tell me how her sister-in-law pesters her husband to buy her a new bag that her best friend just bought, I get confused. Is it a whim to buy a bag or a race to compete against her own best friend that the poor guy has to bear the brunt of?! This is the same person who will ask her child to compete against his/her peers and ace a singing competition just because it’s the “in” thing to do even if he/she is meant to be a super tennis player !

It is one thing to admire and appreciate the other but it’s a totally different ball game to try and ape and get the same thing. What may look good on someone may not look good on me! What may be good for someone may not be good for me! In fact, can not be . We are different human beings, programmed differently, that’s why we are called individuals. Think and act individually!
It’s so satisfying if we choose what We love to do , love to buy, love to possess! It gives us wings like nothing else can- that thought, idea or thing is our own!
So next time you see someone wearing the ring that you simply love and can’t stop admiring -appreciate it , maybe even drool over it but choose your own princess !!