Fairy tales

I was reading a talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf called Your Happily Ever After. Its an amazing talk given to the young women of the church in 2010. He starts out by simply sharing about how many fairy tales begin with the magical phrase, ONCE UPON A TIME.  He goes on to say how these words promise something.  This is one of my favorite quotes from his talk: 

" Heavenly Father's love for you is so great that He has granted you this earthly life as a precious gift of 'once upon a time', complete with your own true story of adventure, trial, and opportunities for greatness, nobility, courage and love. And, most glorious of all, He offers you a gift beyond price and comprehension. Heavenly Father offers to you the greatest gift of all-eternal life-and the opportunity and infinite blessing of your own 'happily ever after'. But such a blessing does not come without a price. It is not given simply because you desire it. It comes only through understanding of who you are and what you must become in order to be worthy of such a gift." 

I have realized that this life certainly comes with our own wicked stepmothers and evil stepsisters, a frightful-looking beast to save a family member and having to sacrifice our home, living locked in a tower by an old lady, being given a poisonous apple because we were the fairest one of all..I could go on and on, but the point is that there is an opposition in all things. And many obstacles attempt to roadblock us. But as President Uchtdorf teaches, it is our reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life's story will develop. I always wondered what "lesson" I was suppose to learn from certain trials. I realize now that its not the specific event that I am suppose to learn from, its how I handle the event that will make my life better and more fulfilling or just a load of crap on a stick.