This is YOUR Fairytale!

Fairy tales are more than true;

not because they tell us that dragons exist,

but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

~ G. K. Chesterson

When you’re dealing with undesirable circumstances beyond your immediate control, the best thing to do (besides pray) is to pretend that you are in a fairytale. Think about it…there’s going to be either an evil witch, a cruel king, or a fire-breathing dragon. There will certainly be some kind of impossible task or insurmountable feat for you to perform. You may have to endure a long trek through the haunted woods or a fortnight in the dungeon. Perhaps you’ll be pricked with a needle and have to sleep for 100 years. At the very least, you could be stuck cleaning up after 7 little men.

But in the midst of it all, there will be fantastical things. Keep your eyes and ears and heart and mind open! Secret messages abound. The humble beggar, crazily muttering, will share a profound thought with you as you pass. Fairies and angels, in the forms of cashiers and neighbors, preschool children and black labs, will bring you cheer and support exactly when you need it most. Magic will zing its way through your life in ways you can’t predict, bringing with it synchronicity and unforetold opportunity. Above all things, pay attention!

In the process of this fairytale, expect to garner secret powers.  Whenever you stumble, you’ll get up and forge on with even more gusto. You’ll start to see the pitfalls before you and the tricks laid out by the wicked antagonists and you will nimbly walk around them. Maybe you'll leap over them while you use your powers to laugh them into dust. Just know, just believe, you will come through this better than you stumbled into it. You'll get to the other side of the forest. You may have rips in your clothing and your skin may be covered in briar scratches, but you will heal and find a better-fitting outfit. Plus, you get to keep your new secret powers! You'll be better than new.

In the end, you might not slay the dragon. You might decide to tame him or just send him away for good. In the end, I can’t promise you that the evil witch in your story will be thrown into the oven or the cruel king will be rolled down a hill in a nail-studded barrel. Maybe they'll just lose their scariness and control over you. But I will promise you that bad times don’t last. You have more magic and power and love and strength at your disposal than you know. You will prevail and the nightmare will end. Remember the only way out is through. Remember that even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise again. Remember that your Father is a King.

Go ahead and make yourself a nice cape. Buy some glittery tights. Polish up your crown or tiara, brush off your top hat. Get ready for your happily ever after. After all, you are the royal hero(ine) of your life. This is your story. You get to decide the ending.

Every person's life is a FAIRYTALE written by God's fingers

~ Hans Christian Andersen