Once upon a time

If you are lucky, you will have hard things to endure.  You will have to dig deep, and throw all your pettiness, and self gratification out the window.  You will have to, out of necessity, strip yourself bare to find out what your true foundation looks like, and who you truly are, void of titles, pedestals, opinions, worldly views, and gravity.

Here in this space, you are your spirit.  You are the true definition of you.  To discover it is a blessing.  To remember it is a both a challenge, and the fuel that can keep you going.  If it is difficult for your own human mind to discover this thing, how rare then is it for those around you to see this?  It is a gift to see past ones mortal wrappings into the very soul of a person.  But, it is also a choice.

It is a sacred experience, and one that can surely be judged by unconnected hearts and eyes.  Perhaps because it is so beyond the realm of reality, to see past what appears right in front of us.  It is very similar to the parables that Jesus taught.  On the surface, they are trite stories.  But underneath, for those that search with connected hearts and eyes, are beautiful lesson that unfold personal truths to those that seek them.

Forgiveness offered to others and ourselves is accepting our true identity, and theirs.  We are not only what we see.  As a matter of fact, we see only a small glimpse of our true power and potential.  Forgiveness casts off mortal bands allowing us to love and see ourselves and others as only true spirit sons and daughters of an eternal God can.  The Atonement can reach every last breath of desperation and hopelessness, every last inch of every dark corner, and endless depths.  In the words of Jeffery R. Holland, "There is nothing so low, that the atonement can't reach."  I know that to be true.

Difficult trials are like cocoons.  We can choose to struggle, fight and eventually overcome them, becoming a changed creature in the process able to fly higher than we ever thought possible.  Or, we can succumb to the darkness, the entrapment.  Not growing, just wallowing.  Waiting, frustrated for something or someone to save us.  Constantly searching for something to ease the unrest, anything and everything other than what has been there the whole time.  Someone has been sent to save us.  Save us from the bottomless pit, from the never ending torment and sorrow.  Are we that pompous?  Do we take the Atonement that lightly, as not to accept that He has already borne these things?  He knew this would be difficult.  He knew this would be overwhelming for us.  He saved us, that we would not have to suffer these things ourselves!!  All he asks is that we truly accept it into our hearts, and let it work miracles in our lives.

Once upon a time, I thought I had it all.  I thought I knew.  I thought I understood.

But, I have more, see more, know more now as a butterfly, than I ever did as a caterpillar.


Quotes:

"She took a leap of faith, and found her wings on the way down."

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all.  Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach.  Check your road and the nature of your battle.  The world you desire can be won.  It exists.  It is real.  It is possible.  It is yours."   – Ayn Rand

"When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you."

"The thing that is really hard and really amazing is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."    – Anna Quindlen

"You had the power all along my dear."   – Glinda the Good Witch.