exercising hope
Don’t Give Up!
Gosh, sometimes nurturing the hope factor is quite difficult, isn’t it?
Throughout our lives, we all have something going on that requires hopefulness. But sometimes, circumstances don’t allow for that “skill” to carry us through the tough times. Or is that just me?
For the past year of my life, I have been the Champion of Hope for any and everyone who expresses despair or hopelessness in my presence. Then certain things changed for me wherein I became the despairing person and I found myself in the depths of yuckiness, also known as the Yuck Zone.
Just like every skill, however, practice becomes an ongoing and ever present need so that the skill we are trying to maintain becomes second nature to us.
I have to remind myself that I have witnessed so much in my seventy-two years of life – some of it directly affecting me and some of it just a part of the grand scheme of being a human in a world that at its worst is scary as hell and at its best is less scary – and I actually have come through all of that human experience 100% of the time.
100% of the time!
But even more important than relying on that past successful history, is remembering to spend more time with those people with whom I have community because together we can keep ourselves out of the Yuck Zone that does its best to bury us. That doesn’t mean I isolate myself from the world, rather, I make sure my hope tank doesn’t run on empty.
So the encouragement I offer to you and to myself is to surround ourselves with “angels” that build us up, not break us down. It’s a wonderful thing to help others, while also helping ourselves, don’t you think?
Hope + Action = Winning Combination
Are you tired? Yeah, me too. Tired tired – due to lack of sleep. Emotionally tired – due to the day to day personal challenges we all face. And sick and tired of the status quo in a world that just doesn’t seem to want to get better. My intent with this post is not to single out any causes for the mess we’re in – that would not be a popular post and quite frankly, I just don’t have the energy to address that mess.
Rather, I simply want to state that all of us need to do better at the art of living and how that living affects others. One way in which to do better is to shift from a hopeless base to a hopeful one. Doing so may not be what it takes for you to have a positive mind shift, but it has worked for me in the past so it’s a tool that I am drawing on now.
Please accept the following sentiments as nourishment for your own journey of hope. These are quotes from the book, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams:
Hope does not deny all the difficulty and all the danger that exists, but it is not stopped by them. There is a lot of darkness, but our actions create the light. Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
Hope is what enables us to keep going in the face of adversity. It is what we desire to happen, but we must be prepared to work hard to make it so.
Hope without action dies on the vine; it needs nourishment in the form of constant feeding and forward motion. None of us need to be scientists, psychologists, or world changers in order to be effective, but all of us need to do something positive within the limited real estate of our little corner of the world. Is it easier to just give up and let others take the lead? Yes…and no. Giving up means you have no control and if you’re like me, you don’t want to surrender the reins to just anyone!
I need to pick up this tool – this hope tool – every day and treat it as though it just might be the answer to my well-being and yours. If you and I employ it starting with our own household and then to that which exists within our control, we’ll all be better off as a result. A little bit goes a long way, especially if more people than not opt to disembark from the train of desperation and climb on board the far more promising hope train.
ALL ABOARD! LET’S GO.
Five Sources of Hope for the Deeply Forgetful, Dementia in the 21st Century
Five Sources of Hope for the Deeply Forgetful, Dementia in the 21st Century.
I’ve found the Alzheimer’s Reading Room to be very helpful in my efforts to continually improve my understanding of Alzheimer’s and other dementia. The good news? Subscribing to the Reading Room is free! I hope all benefit from this attached article about dementia in the 21st century.
Living: the ultimate team sport 