Happily Ever After

It is only possible to live happily ever after

On a day to day basis.

Margaret Bonnano

Sometimes, I dream of a happily-ever-after.  Mine does not have trials and difficulties.  I am loved, I feel safe, I am cherished.  Everyone around me is a friend.  They care about me.  They want me to be happy. 
I think one of the hardest things we do is live in this difficult and yet amazing world.  There are those who are kind, those who are heartless, those who care and those who could care less.  There are sad people, gloomy people, angry people, cheerful people and even people who don't care about anyone else but themselves.
Sometimes you just have to accept that not everything is going to go your way.  Life is real and sometimes it is difficult, sometimes it is hard, sometimes it is downright ugly.  Sometimes it feels as if happily-ever-afters may never happen for you.  But they do and they will.  You just have to be willing to wait for the end of the story instead of wanting it all to happen in the middle.  It takes is a little bit of faith, a little bit of trust, and a little bit of willingness to change.
No matter where we look, the world is just a little bit different.  Every single place, and every single one of us make it that way.  I am learning to make my one small corner just a bit better every day.  I might not be able to fix everything today, or make every one like me, or silence the rumors, or change the past, but I can change the way that I respond to people.  I can make my happily-ever-after, moment by moment and step by step. 
It won't happen over night, it probably won't even happen in the next year or so, but just like I am working toward becoming the person that I want to be, I am working toward the happiness that I would like to have.  I am learning to trust in the Lord's timing in my life. 
And that is going to make all the difference. 

“Happily-ever-afters don't come in happily-every-days.

They are found at the end of challenges-ever-met,

promises-ever-kept, and tears-ever-wept.”

- Richelle E. Goodrich -