The Princess and the Goblet of Fire

Once upon a time there was a princess whose only sense of consistency was inconsistency. It drove the king and queen mad, for they pursued contented routine while their daughter craved spontaneity; she was simply unhappy if she didn't feel she was moving Forward. Even the princess's husband, kind and patient as he was, had trouble reconciling the restlessness his beloved wife experienced.

The princess's endless pursuit of There - wherever There was - led her to collect the knowledge of many Masters. She searched far and wide, and each time she came across one - known across the realm as Leaders in getting There - she threw herself into studying their actions, their words, their guidance. This is it, she would think. This is the path that will get me There.

Too soon, however, that feeling of restlessness would set in. The routine of doing the same things each day simply bored the princess. She needed the New and Exciting and Unknown to keep her mind occupied; otherwise her wits fell idle and lost their energy.

So it came to be that, years later, the princess found herself surrounded by piles of collected knowledge, all at her disposal, and yet she had a sinking feeling that she hadn't come any closer to getting There. She stared at her stores, the wisdom of the Masters displayed in pretty packaging and helpful literature, and the answer came to her.

She already had the tools. What she needed was to use them in a way that satisfied her desire for spontaneity and surprise. She herself was the key to making it work.

She moved quickly, energized by the realization. First, she inscribed snippets of the Masters' teachings onto pieces of paper. Next, she folded the papers and placed them in a vase. She dubbed the container the "Goblet of Fire", an ode to one of the few consistencies in her life - her love of Harry Potter (the Fire, of course, being her desire to get There).

The princess vowed to pull one piece of paper from the Goblet each day, and to follow the instructions written upon it. There were dozens of possible outcomes; she had no way of predicting what her daily lesson would be - and that mystery enthralled her.

The princess had finally determined the answer, her own personal path to There:

Consistency in the inconsistent. Comfort in the Unknown.

And she lived happily ever after for the foreseeable future.