In my posts I talk a lot about hope. It is undoubtedly my favorite four letter word after love. I believe both those four letter words hold tremendous power. I believe all great things are possible through them.
I’ll be the first to admit, I wasn’t always able to find hope. I’ve struggled with severe depression, anxiety—even been so hopeless I’ve wrestled with thoughts of suicide.
For years, it was like I was stuck under disabling clouds of fear. Fear of failure. Fear of the unknown. Upset with where my life was, but afraid of changing it. But then, hope stepped in.
At first it was a quiet voice in the back of my head. I could barely make out what it was saying over the noise of my worst fears.
But little by little…
As I learned to silence my fears and anxiety through meditation and mindfulness, I learned to trust the voice that said, “I’ll try again tomorrow.”
And little by little, I started to change.
Little by little…
I started to let go of the belief that I was not good enough. That I would probably fail, so it was better not to try.
Then one day I felt a shift. I could see the sky again, bright with hope and the possibility of change.
By listening to the voice of hope, I started to believe that I could be better. I started to believe that things would get better.
And you know what? They did.
I think it all comes down to faith, hope and belief. You have to have faith in something more than yourself. You have to believe that there is more to life that what you are going through. Believe that these things aren’t happening to you; rather, they are happening for you.
Those struggles. This difficult season. Perhaps this fire wasn’t sent to destroy you, it was meant to forge you into a stronger, more resilient version of yourself. But you have to be brave enough to hold on to the hope that life will be beautiful again.
Because I believe hope is faith in action. When life gives you every reason to question and doubt the reason behind your struggles and if you will be able to overcome, hope swoops in to provide possibilities—even when things seem impossible.
Hope refuses to give up—no matter the magnitude of the obstacle. Hope is stubbornly, unapologetically optimistic against all odds.
Hope is also a choice. It is reaching for the glimmer of goodness when you are drowning in a sea of awfulness. Because I’ve learned that once you reach for hope, it starts to multiply—spreading and uplifting those around you.
Having the audacity to choose hope when most would fall into fear is incredibly powerful. Because once you choose to focus on the good that could come it instead of agonizing over the what-could-bes, you will start to change the way you think. You will start to recognize and appreciate your own strength. And once you recognize your own strength, you can use the scars from your struggles as signs of hope for others.
“Hope is not pretending that troubles don’t exist. It is the hope that they won’t last forever. That hurts will be healed and difficulties will be overcome. That we will be led out of the darkness and into the sunshine.”