Once Upon A Time

It's safe to say that things don't affect me as they used to. Given that, it's also important I mention that it's a good thing. But once upon a time there was a girl with mild faith, who lost her way because pleasure seemed better than happiness.
She didn't understand the pain and consequences that would follow her, nor did she understand how easy the escape could have been if only she turned away. she left the pain behind, but it caught up with her later. She suffered, she thought, she lay awake... but she didn't cry. Not often. She thought, and still does, that crying or showing pain near others would deem her weak, and cause others to focus on her. She didn't like that. She never has.
People in this world choose to live their lives in so many different ways. Some sing, some catch fish, some work to provide, some provide to live... most are missing something more important than they could imagine. The girl had it in her hands and chose, like many others, to put present before eternity.
How selfish we sometimes are. I have swayed in the truth while others do not know it. I have held back truth from those I love the most, and put my trust in those who only let me down. My faith, my trust, my every move should be towards my God.
But I need help. So much help. And I know I will find a way eventually.
This boy, a remarkable boy, told me the story of how he turned to God. He used to prosecute the church with his friends, and now his facebook profile proudly displays a picture of himself holding the book of mormon, and a tag-line that reads, "I know this is true, and so can you."
The URL for his facebook page is just as beautiful: "aubert believes."
My initial thought was to write something along these lines: 'if only I was like this boy.' But I would be missing the point.
We don't have examples to wish we were they,
we have examples to show us the way.
My past has degraded me, my future may not
Because I know I'll listen to what I've been taught
I may be haunted still in my dreams and flashbacks, but I am not that girl anymore. I will stand with Aubert because I believe. If I just believe, anything, even moving on, is possible.