How Much Hope Do You Really Have These Days?
That is the age-old saying. Is it true for you?
How much hope do you have these days? Take a few minutes and journal about how you hope, or don’t, for yourself, for those nearest and dearest to you, for the community you live in, for your country, for the world. What insights come up for you through this writing exercise?
Hope Exists at the Very Bottom of the World’s Troubles
We live in increasingly radiating circles and, due to our ever rapidly-advancing technology, with circles beyond us in the center, they seem to become increasingly smaller. The original Greek fable about hope described Pandora’s box which, when opened against divine orders, released all the troubles of the world only to finally reveal hope at the very bottom.
When we truly despair we are challenged to most greatly hope. Hope can sometimes appear in the most surprising ways, in the most surprising times.
Ten Simple Ways to Find Hope When You Most Need It
Here are ten simple ways to access hope when you most need it:
1. Do something for someone secretly that you know they really need in as simple a way as possible.
2. Look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I love you” until you really accept it.
3. Spend an hour in nature in a place you view as beautiful.
4. Write down all the ways you are feeling, and when you are finished, write, “I accept you just as you are”.
5. Settle back in a deeper meditative state and imagine you smile at each part of your body.
6. Picture yourself receiving hope from your sense of the divine, who completely forgives you.
7. Tell someone you care about what you hope for them in their life, and then imagine you exactly hope for that in your life as well.
8. Play for an hour with a small child.
9. Play for fifteen minutes with an animal.
10. Admit something you have been afraid to admit.
Life’s Challenges Dare You to Hope, Unconditionally
Accept the challenge to trust yourself and your sense of the divine to dare to hope in your life, unconditionally. List what you would do in courage and faith through daring to hope in your life today.
Do it as an expression of your greatest gift! Be well – Marjorie