The dragons we encounter in our lives can be as menacing and terrifying as you might imagine a dragon to be. They raise their beastly heads, breathe in the boiling fire that threatens to burn everything in their path, and threaten our lives with an unprecedented sense of fury. We are not all born princes, those who defeat dragons with a swing of their magical swords, filled with a courage and courage that only a prince can possess. Nor are we all damsels in distress, needing the prince to come and save us from the monster that some evil force has imposed to keep us trapped in a castle forever. I'm certainly not a prince or princess, at least in a metaphorical sense. I certainly have no intention of cutting off the heads of anyone who stands between me and my desires. Because what would be the point? We can't just overcome an obstacle in our life, save the princess, and live happily ever after. Life doesn't work like a fairy tale. We should learn from obstacles, grow, overcome more obstacles, grow some more, and continue with this cycle throughout our lives. Because no matter how many of them we kill, these dragons will not disappear from our lives. They will keep coming back in all kinds of shapes and sizes, bringing with them all the pain they may possess and throwing enough hardship into our lives that we may want to give up, letting them win for once. We may feel the need to succumb to their fiery breath, to abandon our swords and give up the fight. The dragons in our lives will always be a presence looming around us, waiting for us to make a mistake that opens the door for them to swoop down and roar with ferocity. In Letters to a Young Poet, Rilke is like... at the center of the paper... he makes us immortal. We don't live happily ever after, but with a group of ellipses that proves that our story never ends. We are part of a larger story, with a universal theme that ties every single human experience together. We are all princes, princesses, dragons, beauty, perfection, imperfection and every kind of contradiction you can think of. This is a definition of the word life, a word so indefinable that it leads to infinite definitions. I suppose I choose the one where dragons are princesses, where every obstacle in our lives gives us purpose and meaning. Purpose and meaning drive us to succeed and become greater than we could have ever imagined. I choose to lead a life with purpose and meaning over any other kind of life. The dragons in my life are princesses and I will always hug and learn from each of them.