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Once upon a time in an every-day sort of 

land, there lived an Ordinary Girl who lived an 

ordinary but happy life...

Her life was happy not in a bewitching-fairy-

tale kind of way, but more of a life-just-kind-

of-rolled-past-without-too-much-going-wrong-

and-even-when-it-did-it-all-worked-out-

anyway kind of happy.  

This was not in small part due to her very 

careful planning.   It is a well known but rarely 

stated fact that good planning is the key to 

happiness.

= the exact right number

N.B. The exact right number of broken hearts has perplexed scientists for 

centuries but it is now commonly understood that the exact right number is 2.  

Disclaimer: This is not based on any scientifically rigorous research and lacks any statistical validation but in the 

author’s opinion, she is pretty certain that were such research to be conducted, 2 would be the exact right number.  

Because for our Ordinary Girl, things just 

always went exactly to plan.   She finished 

University more-or-less to plan; got the job 

that she had decided she would get, to plan; 

even married to plan (with a slight hiccup first 

time around but in due course it all got back 

on plan). She had even experienced the exact 

right number of broken hearts to plan.  

So you are probably thinking, why am I 

reading a story about an ordinary girl whose 

life has gone exactly to plan?   You would 

probably rather read a story about a swash-

buckling pirate on a wild adventure of the seas 

with mermaids and parrots and flagons of 

whiskey.  

But as you will soon see, this is not really the 

Ordinary Girl’s story…

Yikes! My tummy 

is all flip floppy!

Woolworths

One day, with very little notice, the King of the 

Everyday-Land came to visit our Ordinary Girl. 

This was an important affair that would 

ordinarily demand much baking, pressing of 

table cloths, and polishing of silver.   But 

remember that our girl was an ordinary one so 

she simply bought a Woolworths' cake and 

hoped that her lack of fuss would not be 

frowned upon.  

Because the King of the Everyday-Land had 

never had reason to visit before, our Ordinary 

Girl woke on the morning of the visit with more 

than a little-bit of anxiety.  

And indeed that anxiety was warranted 

because the King had a very important job in 

mind for her.  

To understand its importance we need to go 

back a little bit in time…

Seven years earlier a child had been born.   Not 

just an ordinary poo-their-pants-cry-a-lot-and-

generally-be-disagreeable kind of child but a 

sugar-and-spice-and-everything-nice kind of 

child. 

But while sugar and spice is all very nice, that 

is NOT what brought her to the attention of the 

King.   You see, when she was born she had 

been blessed with a very special power…

Spice

Many people think the best powers are the 

super-hero kind of ones like being able to fly. 

But while flying is most definitely a very cool 

power, other than getting you places quicker 

and avoiding traffic it is not useful for very 

much.  

So as a general rule Kings don’t usually bother 

themselves with children who have the power 

to fly.   But this little girl had a much more 

important power than THAT because she had…

The Power To Be Anything That She 

Wanted To Be.  

Lots of parents tell their children that they 

have The Power To Be Anything That They 

Want To Be when they actually do NOT which is 

really a very careless thing to do. Because it is 

a well-known but rarely stated fact that most 

children have significant limitations.  

Sadly, many of these children grow up to 

become contestants on Australian Idol which 

they really have no business being.    

But once in a blue moon a child is born whose 

powers are SO strong that he or she can make 

the world a better place to be.   But sometimes 

this power ends up landing in the wrong 

children by accident; children who will grow up 

and use it in all the wrong ways, which is why 

we have so many soap stars. And it is also why 

the King had come to visit our ordinary girl…

You see, in order to properly prepare our Girl 

Who Has The Power To Be Anything That She 

Wants To Be to use her power respectfully and 

not just open an Internet company, her Fairy 

Godmother had spent the first 7 years of her 

life putting her through lots of VERY hard 

challenges.   The types of challenges that would 

make ordinary girls crumble.  

I would very much 

like to hide under 

that mushroom stalk

She had to slay dragons and chase away 

monsters; she had to climb huge mountains, 

cross dangerous seas and navigate dense 

forests; she had to protect the people she 

loved even when she really just wanted to hide 

under a mushroom stalk.  

She had to do these things without ever 

knowing that her Fairy Godmother was all the 

while protecting her and making sure that 

even on the darkest night, in the coldest place, 

and in her most frightened moments, she 

would still be okay.  

Not surprisingly, our Girl Who Has The Power 

To Be Anything That She Wants To Be passed 

these challenges with ease.  

It became very clear after she had slain her 

eighth dragon that she was very brave.   And 

very clear after she had climbed her tenth 

mountain that she was very strong.   And very 

clear after she had protected the people she 

loved that she had a heart as pure and good as 

the most pure and good heart that ever beat.  

So her Fairy Godmother was now confident that 

the Girl Who Has The Power To Be Anything 

That She Wants To Be would use her power for 

good and not become a media mogul or a shock 

jock on 2GB.   But unlike some powers that you 

have from birth like The Power to Drive Your 

Parents Crazy By Rolling Your Eyes, THIS power 

could only take 

effect when 3 things 

happened…

I am very sure she

won't become a 

shock jock on 2GB

I think I love her with all 

my heart. Or maybe I just 

want a hamburger... 

First, the Girl Who Has The Power To Be 

Anything That She Wants To Be had to 

experience true love.    Some people think that 

true love can only be found in romantic love 

but in fact that is the weakest type of love. 

Because it is a well known but rarely stated 

fact that even the most sensible of boys does 

not know the difference between true love and 

feeling hungry so it can’t always be trusted.  

I don't know this little 

girl at all but yet I love 

her.   How strange...

Not many people know that the truest love is 

found when a stranger chooses to become a 

little girl’s mother for no reason except love.  

Because it is a well known but rarely stated 

fact that while parents love their children very 

much what they must NEVER EVER tell 

them on account of how it would hurt their 

feelings, is that they kind of have to.  

So when someone loves a little girl they don’t 

actually HAVE to love it is the most pure and 

true love of all.

The second thing that had to happen was that  

the stranger-who-became-her-mother-and-

gave-her-true-love had to kiss the Girl Who 

Has The Power To Be Anything That She Wants 

To Be, right SMACK on the little brown 

freckle right between her eyes.   Then 3 times 

in quick succession she had to say... 

YOU can be anything that you want to be

You can be ANYTHING that you want to be

You can be anything that YOU WANT TO BE

I'm sorry

I'm not 

sorry at all

But she could not just say it because words are 

just words after all and people are very good 

at saying words they don’t mean, like how 

sometimes you say sorry when you really want 

to say I’M NOT SORRY AT ALL.   But you 

say it anyway just to get out of a spot of 

trouble.  

She could be almost 

ANYTHING but maybe 

not a ballerina...

No, she could not just say it; she had to KNOW 

it to be true.   And that kind of knowing only 

comes when a mother has had time to make 

sure that her little girl is not just a really 

capable sort that could be almost anything she 

wants to be.   Because while there is no doubt 

that being almost anything you want to be is 

very special, it could not really be considered a 

power.  

So a mother must never EVER say it unless 

she absolutely KNOWS it to be true!

I do believe that I 

can be anything I 

want to be...

The third thing that had to happen was that the  

Girl Who Has The Power To Be Anything That 

She Wants To Be, had to believe it to be true. 

Nobody could make that happen, she had to 

find it in her own heart. 

I don't think she 

is scared of us!

That's weird!

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