"Once upon a time" is a phrase that has brought joy and hope to many of us, what is it about this phrase that provides us with such joy and hope? For me and I would assume many of you would agree, it is that we know that "Once Upon a Time" leads into the one thing that we all strive for each day with our fullest hopes and dreams and that is the magical phrase "and They All Lived Happily Ever After." What more can we ask for in life than our own "Happily Ever After?" Knowing that from this point forward in life, everything is going be great and we will face no more suffering or tribulation. What a peaceful feeling that would be to free from the worry of loss or the fear of failure; how wonderfully fantastic would that be?
Can we as individuals in a world full of loss and failure ever know this peace? Or is "Happily Ever After" just a fairy tale or a dream that, though we hope for it, can never be attained? Well, though I have yet to reach my own personal "Happily Ever After,” I have faith that it is possible for each of us to find that peace that comes from knowing that we will live happily ever after. However I think we need to realize it won't come easily and it is not something we can achieve on our own. Saying this, I believe the key to us all finding our happily ever after is through the Atonement and gospel of Jesus Christ. He has made it possible for each of us to overcome our own weaknesses and failures, to return with Him to our Heavenly Father, which means not only will we live happily ever after now but we will gain an eternal happily ever after. So though it will not be easy and is not something we will obtain right away, it is available for each and every one of us.
Often, as we think of fairy tales we often jump from the "Once Upon a Time" right into the "Happily Ever After.” In doing so, we forget that even in these tales of happiness and success, these characters face much suffering and tribulation before reaching their "Happily Ever After.” Forgetting these characters’ struggles, we often expect to be able to do the same in our lives and jump straight into our own "Happily Ever After.” Thus, when we don't achieve this, it only causes more pain and suffering as we begin to doubt ourselves and own self-worth. This is the work of the adversary. He wants us to become weak and broken so that he can tempt us away from our Heavenly Father. He does this in many ways, including trying to lure us into a feeling of entitlement so we become frustrated when things don't go as planned, which just drives us further from our goal of an eternal happily ever after.
As we move forward in our lives we all tend to set goals. With these goals, we often will say once I achieve this goal I will be happy or at least one step closer to being happy. But when we achieve, then we decide, “Well, actually to really be happy I must do this.” Or even worse, if we fail to achieve said goal, we become depressed and frustrated with ourselves, and we are even further from an eternal happily ever after. So how do we find our eternal happily ever after? Well, first, we need to learn to be happy regardless of our current circumstances, and learn to be grateful for what we have been given and achieved thus far in the journey of life. If can’t learn to enjoy the little things now, we still won’t be happy when we obtain our bigger goals. Sure, we are still going to face sorrow and loss—that is part of this life—but we can’t let it overcome us.
This is much easier said than done. I am still struggling in my personal pursuit of an eternal happily ever after. But in my life I have struggled with finding happiness in my life despite the many blessings and great support I have always had. And every time I failed to reach a goal I had set or faced a loss in my life, I moved further and further from the happiness I longed for. It got to the point where I had given up on my search for happiness, as I had become content with my failure and felt no further desire to obtain an eternal happily ever after. This was because not only I had lost my faith in myself, but I no longer felt I deserved to be happy. Nevertheless, I am coming to see that we all deserve happiness and joy. We just have to learn to recognize it throughout the different times in our lives.
I had allowed myself to be overcome by the feelings of failure and loss and I allowed the adversary to creep in and convince me I did not deserve happiness or peace in my life. I saw many of my failings as proof that I had no value in the eyes of my Heavenly Father. But despite the fact that I had given up on myself, I began to see glimmers of hope through great people in my life who continued to have faith in me, and have continued to reach out and give me hope that perhaps an eternal happily ever after was still a possibility. And though these glimmers of hope began to shine a light on what was possible, I still struggled to accept them fully. But, luckily, these shining examples in my life continued to reach out and helped build a bridge for me back from the darkness into the light of the Lord.
My friends and family helped me to see that despite my failings and loss, I still had much to be grateful for and to look forward to. It was through their love and understanding that I found the strength to overcome my sorrows and move forward in life. And though I still have a long ways to go in this life until I find my eternal happily ever after, I look forward to filling the pages between my “Once Upon a Time” and my “Eternal Happily Ever After” with many more pages of exciting adventures with my family and friends.
And I hope to share some of those pages with all of you in hopes of inspiring those in need of inspiration as well as learning from others willing to share from the pages of their journey. I do this hoping that we can all help each other along the way until we reach our “Eternal Happily Ever After.”
Timothy Jackson Wolfe
Timothy Jackson Wolfe
No comments:
Post a Comment