I recently had my heart broken. Someone I cared for turned out to not be the person I had hoped they would be. My Camelot fell. While the relationship lasted “there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as Camelot.” There was love, excitement, and so much happiness in my life. But then in one unexpected twist of fate, it was all gone. And now I am left to wonder, what do you do after Camelot falls?
Or maybe Camelot isn’t the right reference? After all, in some versions of the story it is the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere that brought the fall of Camelot. Or maybe that is the right reference, and I’m the King Arthur and not Guinevere in this story. All I know, is at the end of the day, I’m not the one who rode off into the sunset with a knight in shining armor. In fact, I wasn’t even told I missed the horse to the sunset. I found out the next day that my knight found a new princess, rode off into the sunset, and forgot to tell me. And now I’m sitting here alone wondering what went wrong.
It must be asked, by everyone who has ever had a heart broken, stepped on, and sent down the garbage disposal, what happens after the fall of Camelot? How do you pick up the pieces and move on? Where do you ever find the willpower to try and find love again? I turn to my favorite scripture, the one that seems to be the answer to nearly every dilemma I find in life. Joshua 1:9 reads, “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” I will always have the Lord my God beside me as I start to pick up the pieces and attempt to begin the search again.
Is there a knight in shining armor out there for everyone? Or just for a chosen few? The Apostle Paul declared, “Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:11). And so I must believe that for each man and woman there is an equal awaiting them. Just in my case, he’s hiding really well.
And sometimes the hardest part of moving on is letting go of the past. Whether it be letting go of the dream of Camelot, or forgiving the person who broke your heart, forgiving and letting go is never easy. There are so many times in heartbreak when it is easy to believe and to justify that we don’t have to forgive. The other person truly was wrong and caused us so much pain. Why should we be forced to forgive? Again the scriptures make it so plain and clear that we must forgive. Doctrine and Covenants 64:10, “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.” Sorry, I’ve checked and there is no footnote that says, “except when he’s broken your heart and gone off into the sunset with someone else.”
Camelot falls and we are all left wondering and hurting over what has happened. But we must pick up and move on. We know we are not alone. We know we can find the strength. And we hope we will again find a new happily ever after.
Good luck, you’re not alone.
