Once Upon A Real Life

By Rebecca Galloway

Once Upon A Real Life transports your real life into that of a fairytale, you will explore the people you meet everyday and turn them into fictional characters so that you can learn exactly how best to battle your real life demons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TGH International
• Release date: Sep 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781914447716

Book preview

Once Upon A Real Life

A TALE OF MANY CHARACTERS

REBECCA GALLOWAY

Once Upon A Real Life

Copyright © Rebecca Galloway, 2023

First Edition.

ISBN (paperback) [978-1-914447-70-9]

ISBN (ebook) [978-1-914447-71-6]

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, including photocopying and recording, without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief quotes in review or reference.

This book contains information for entertainment purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. It is always advisable to consult a medical professional.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this book, no responsibility is assumed for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, and no liability is assumed for any damages caused by its use.

The views expressed in this book are those of the author alone and do not reflect those of TGH International Ltd..

This book is a work of creative nonfiction, however, certain elements may have been fictionalized in varying degrees, for various purposes to suit the narrative. 

Prepared by TGH International Ltd. 

www.TGHBooks.com

Your Story. Your Version.

Have you ever felt like Cinderella’s story feels all too familiar, or that you have a few metaphorical Dragons to slay in your life? Or maybe you feel like there must be more to this provincial life?

You are not alone.

Acknowledgments

My children, you are my real-life fairy tale and my happy ever after. You are my reason to keep slaying Dragons and my reason for continuing to become the best version of myself. Thank you for being such incredible people who have shown me how to love in a way I never thought possible. You are all my continuous source of hope. I wish for you to always find your inner Hero, no matter what villains you come across in your own story.

My husband. My Knight in Shining Armour. You have, since the day I met you, been my motivation to strive for better, my inspiration to become better, and my dedication to love and live better. As long as stars are above you…

My Sidekicks, Tramps and Fairy Godmothers! Where would I be without each and every one of you? I feel so very blessed to have so many wonderful people surrounding and supporting me. I’m not sure I will ever be able to express my genuine gratitude and love for you all enough.

Sean, for serendipitously landing in my life just when I decided to turn my fictional, personal version of this book into a non-fiction way to use my pain and lessons to help others. You have inspired, motivated and supported me throughout this journey and helped bring this book out of me to the place where it was destined to be.

To my lovely Beta readers, your feedback and constructive criticism helped this book grow to a place I feel it needed to evolve to. You have made me accountable by accepting this book and you have confirmed its existence. You’ve helped this story come to life and you have given me the possibility to help even just one person who reads this.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Contents

Untitled

Introduction

How To Use This Book

Untitled

The Main Character…

The Hero

Internal Characters…

Pan and Shadow

The Genie and The Lamp

The Find-A-Way Fairies Vs. Hades, Pain and Panic

The Poisoned Apple

External Characters - Allies…

Fairy Godmother

The Tramp

The Sidekick

The Knight in Shining Armour

The Bystander

External Characters - Villains…

The Townsfolk

Rumpelstiltskin

The Wicked Witch

The Evil Queen

The Dragon

Choosing The Hero’s Path…

You Decide Your Fate

Why Do We Have Villains in Our Story?

Secondary Villains

Your Life In Chapters…

Exercise One: Planning Your Tale

Exercise Two: Begin Your Storytelling

Exercise Three: Assigning Your Characters

Exercise Four: Facing The Pain

Exercise Five: Understanding Your Chapters

Stocking The Hero’s Artillery…

The Artillery

Defeating Rumpelstiltskin

Defeating The Wicked Witch

Defeating The Evil Queen (or King)

Defeating The Dragon

Happily Ever After…

The End

About the Author

Contents

Untitled

Introduction

How To Use This Book

Untitled

The Main Character…

The Hero

Internal Characters…

Pan and Shadow

The Genie and The Lamp

The Find-A-Way Fairies Vs. Hades, Pain and Panic

The Poisoned Apple

External Characters - Allies…

Fairy Godmother

The Tramp

The Sidekick

The Knight in Shining Armour

The Bystander

External Characters - Villains…

The Townsfolk

Rumpelstiltskin

The Wicked Witch

The Evil Queen

The Dragon

Choosing The Hero’s Path…

You Decide Your Fate

Why Do We Have Villains in Our Story?

Secondary Villains

Your Life In Chapters…

Exercise One: Planning Your Tale

Exercise Two: Begin Your Storytelling

Exercise Three: Assigning Your Characters

Exercise Four: Facing The Pain

Exercise Five: Understanding Your Chapters

Stocking The Hero’s Artillery…

The Artillery

Defeating Rumpelstiltskin

Defeating The Wicked Witch

Defeating The Evil Queen (or King)

Defeating The Dragon

Happily Ever After…

The End

About the Author

Introduction

The average person will meet between 20,000 to 50,000 people in their life. Each of these interactions leaves a mark of some sort.

Every conversation, every situation, and every interaction we have, each and every day, is interpreted in two ways; the way others perceive it to have been and your own personal version of it. Your own take on it is valid, important and necessary to unpick in order to heal and empower not only your past, but also your future. Validating your own version of events helps to gain clarity and reassurance on things from the past but will also help you remain clear and focused on situations that arise going forwards.

Look at a painting… A single brushstroke shows a single interaction between the brush and the canvas. The entirety of a beautiful painting is created and defined by each new brushstroke and how the artist chooses to interpret it. Each colour or shade expresses a different emotion. Some strokes take prominence in the overall masterpiece, but, even the most minute touches between the bristles and the surface change the end result and how the artist views it. I messed up there - yet without it, there would be less to see and less to understand. Then, finally, the smallest, least visible part of the whole masterpiece is the artist’s own signature. Without this artist, this masterpiece would never have been created or be given the opportunity to be admired by others. Like the interactions we have on a daily basis, a single painting can be interpreted in so many different ways by each viewer.

Your view counts.

Many artists will have a feeling of incomplete work and this too can be mirrored in life. It is not knowing what comes next, what should be added (or wished it had not been). It is the artists bravery to sign their name, knowing they may never feel it is complete or that they are one hundred percent satisfied with their last efforts, that everyone can learn from - to walk away, when no more can be added, learnt, expressed, or gained by continuing.

For years, I wandered through the world like life was just happening to me. As if any circumstance or situation I encountered, I had no control over. To some extent that may have been true. I had been powerless in some situations and yet, decades afterwards, I still felt controlled by them. What was this emptiness? I had spent over twenty years trying so hard to block the painful memories, that I completely forgot the happiest of times too. It was easier to fade out chunks of time, but the pain of the past still haunted me. I needed to fix this knot inside of me that started off like embers in a dwindling fire, but soon became controlling in ways I never expected. I felt paralysed by my past. I could not be ‘present in the moment’ like all the books and gurus suggested I should, because I felt immense fear, anxiety, sadness. Feelings that I felt but, looking around at my present situation, I could not understand. I realised my past was dictating how I felt in my present and I needed to go back.

Ever the optimist, coupled with fear of what I may uncover if I went too deep too quickly, I first sought to find the lighter memories I had forgotten. Then I revisited my own mistakes (which in turn led to adding huge guilt to the list of undesirable side effects). When I had skirted around the big stuff long enough, I realised I was then ready to face the demons of my past… the situations that really plagued me. The people that made a young girl have to grow up too fast, and the monsters that turned a happy, innocent, and naive child into a negative, jealous and angry person on the inside. I would sometimes resent other people’s happiness when, in reality, I had my own happiness in my present - it was just that my unhealed inner child could not see it right in front of me. As I came to realise, this was going to be no easy feat.

I decided to find an ideal way to work with my inner child.

Since I was a little girl, I had always written things down as a fictional story. When I was feeling hard done by, I would write a story about a little girl who never got her own way (even though that was rarely the actual truth of the situation, from all perspectives, but it was my view and it counted). As I grew up, I would write about upsetting situations, heartbreak and friendship issues as if they were fictional stories. I would then begin to toy with alternative endings and different ways things could turn out. I didn’t realise until now how cathartic this was for me; I had found a way of self-soothing my problems.

I didn’t have the resources available to me, nor did I have the support of family or friends to unbiasedly listen and help me solve my problems. Adults sometimes think a younger person’s issues are irrelevant in the bigger picture, but the attentiveness of an adult to a child can shape the way that child grows to look at themselves and the world around them. Fortunately, without trying, I had found different ways of giving myself therapy. So, I would continue to write.

Sometimes, when things felt really painful in the moment, I would write poems to explain a situation as it was. It was a way for me to express my perspective on a situation with no coercion. Then, a few weeks would pass and I would begin the fictional story of the situation. I continued doing this throughout my life. Sometimes I didn’t have access or freedom to write poems, so I wrote make believe diary entries for my rulers to admire should they look at them. Daily, scribbling down the life I desired as opposed to the one I was experiencing. It was only when I stopped needing to