Your Once Upon a Time

Your Once Upon a Time

Recently, I was listening to a song from Disney Channel's original movie Descendants 3, and the message was just so beautiful that I wanted to write about it. It's called "My Once Upon a Time." In the movie, the main character and future queen Mal (who is also the daughter of the famed villain Maleficent) makes a decision that she believes is for the good of the whole kingdom, but later regrets it because it distances her from those she holds dear. In this song, she is deciding what she wants her "once upon a time," or her story, to be. She says:

So when your story comes to light,

Make sure the story that they write goes:

Once upon a time a girl tried harder
Once upon a time she tried again
Once upon a braver choice
She took a risk
She used her voice

And that will be my once upon a time
This time.

She has resolved to take the risk and seek to make things right with those she has wronged, even though it definitely won't be easy. As I was listening to this, I asked myself: "What do I want my 'once upon a time' to be?" There have definitely been times when I've had to try harder, try again, take risks, and use my voice. While most of those weren't easy experiences to go through, they've become crucial moments in my personal journey, and I've come out a better person because of them. And I will continue to have experiences like that as I continue onward in life. We all will.

To quote the song again:

Take once upon a time she fought a dragon
Once upon a time that beast was me.

We live in tumultuous times. We're going to war everyday against unseen adversaries, or "dragons" if you will. But sometimes, the opponent we're fighting is ourselves. There are times when our passionate hearts want something, but our logical heads hold us back, or whatever the case may be. I find that my inner wars often center around experiences I want to have, but similar experiences in the past that have been difficult and painful hold me back. I don't know what most of your internal wars are, but I do know that they are just as real as any external influences we may be fighting against. Though the dragons we fight--both internal and external--are intimidating to confront to say the least, we can conquer them all. We will never face anything we can't overcome. I firmly believe that God reserves the toughest battles for His strongest soldiers, and also that each trial we go through was handpicked and carefully placed in our package of trials. He wants us to succeed! And He wants to help us in our daily battles in any way He possibly can. He knows us perfectly, and He knows what we can handle.

To quote the song one more time:
Step into your greatness before your story ends
So when your story ends, they'll say:

Once upon a time a girl flew higher
Once upon a time she made things right
Once upon a tie that bindsShe changed her heart
To change their minds

We all have greatness in us. As C.S. Lewis once said, we are "gods and goddesses in embryo." We all have the innate capacity to accomplish things in our lives that are nothing short of incredible. If you really think about it, there are incredible things you've already done in your life. A major part of our mortal quest is discovering who we are and what we can do. We each need to discover those "seeds of godliness" in us. Once we do, then we'll fly higher than we ever could have imagined, because our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ are "the wind beneath our wings," to quote another favorite song. They can lift us to new heights if we will align our will with Theirs, until we ultimately reach Their altitude. The world may say that we'll never be good enough, that we aren't (fill in the blank) enough. We can change their minds. But the truth is, it isn't their opinions that matter. For me, the opinions that matter the most are those who love me and have my best interests at heart, such as my family, my Heavenly Father, and my close friends.

So, what are your personal dragons? What battles have you already won? What inner greatness have you already discovered in yourself? Whose opinions matter the most to you? And ultimately, what do you want your "once upon a time" to be? Some of the answers to these questions might surprise you. It is my hope that we'll all become something great, wherever our individual paths may lead us.