She Lost All Hope ~ & An Introduction to Writing your Personal History - the easy way

So I am back to the dream of hope that I mentioned in a previous blog….

While meandering aimlessly down the aisles of Hobby Lobby the other day, I sighed and said “Am I really going to be able to do this "alone" thing!?!” (Did I say it merely in my thoughts or did I say it right out loud?)  I’m not sure but there in front of me I suddenly focused on a plaque that simply said in white letters as if scrawled on a blackboard:

HOPE

 I stopped, my hands squeezing the handle of the cart and stared at the word.  Hope.  It’s a tiny little word, isn’t it? But I realize more than ever that I need it, I CAN’T lose it because as you know, “She lost all hope” is what they say when someone quits.  Whether it’s a mental, emotional or physical challenge, or working on a goal or even life itself; to lose hope is to lose it all.

 So what is it?  Can we easily define it?  Do we cling to it; do we work on it; protect it or polish it every day like a treasured possession so as to never lose it? It seems there is a power to it that pushes or pulls us along this journey of life that we are all on.  So I determined I needed to take a deeper look into it.

So on this quiet Sunday morning I find that….

In the Old Testament, Job, who suffered and overcame more loss than most, instructs us: “For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.”

It appears that to have hope is to possess a guiding light and a power that motivates us to go on; propels us forward; encourages us to succeed even when it seems impossible.

I remember as a child the first inklings of hope being the possibility of unwrapping a wished for gift on my birthday. And now days as I try to get some exercise, it’s putting one foot in the front of the other again and again and again in the hope that I will reach a goal.  As a young mother my hope was that my sons would grow up healthy and strong and have beautiful lives. As a businesswoman I hoped that my hard work, by my husband’s side, would bring satisfaction and enough money to support our family.  As an artist, it’s the hope that my work will someday touch others in a positive way.

To the sick there is hope that an answer and maybe even a cure will be found.  To the weary there is hope that there will be rest.

Wow….Hope is the power that keeps possibilities and dreams alive. Hope is the energy that strengthens our hearts and our bodies and our souls and makes us get up and move. Hope is so strong that it can energize soldiers to be victorious in a ruthless battle and yet so fragile that it can instantaneously shatter at the moment of a mere whisper or an unsolicited thought. Hope is different from Faith.  Hope is different from Love.  Hope is different from a wish. The opposite of hope is despair.

So even though there are times when I feel just too miserable and can’t believe that I could possibly feel better…I must never relinquish my grasp on that beacon of hope that draws me forward so as not to slip under the waves of despair.  It tells me that life is good and I can work my way through this tunnel, step by step, into a future with possibilities and the ability to do all of the things that I have yet to do.

But, and this is the critical question I did say right out loud:  "How do I grasp it, hold onto it and use it?" I randomly flip open a little “thought for the day book” that is by my keyboard and my eyes rest on this quote by Jane Howard:

“Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people.  Forget yourself!!

Or in other words as that great commandment instructs:  “Love your neighbor as yourself”

Is that the answer? And an idea floods my mind and heart, actually an idea I had many years ago when asked to teach a class in “Writing your personal history for posterity”.  It turned into a class that I taught over and over again over the years and for which I developed a weekly assignment that encouraged my students to write their story because as Helen Keller said:

“Every human being‘s life is a story.  A unique story that nobody ever lived before and no one will ever live again.”

Hundreds of people have successfully used these assignments and it occurs to me that if I share the assignments with you each week for the next 52 weeks, you will have your life story (to date) written!  No charge of course…it’s just a way for me to help you, my neighbor, unlock your unique story that no one else can tell! (Don’t let someone else tell your story; it won’t be the same story)  You don’t need to know how to write, just answer my questions and express your thoughts.  And by doing it, you are not only creating something of great worth but you are actually nourishing my hope!  (Sorry, it circled back to me LOL, like that old saying “That’s enough about me, let’s talk about you…so what do you think about me?” Ha Ha)

Are you game, you beautiful souls and interesting people that are reading this blog?  I’ll start with the very first assignment next Sunday!  You don’t have to share it but keep it, print it out and put it in a notebook, treasure it and someday your grandchildren and great grandchildren will read it and it will give them the power they’ll need to hold onto the hope that will pull them through their own trials.  It’s a kind gift of yourself to them and as I’ve found in writing this blog, cathartic for yourself as well during times when you think you might have lost all hope.

I think it was Oscar Wilde who said: “Be yourself because everyone else is taken”. 

We’ll start there….next Sunday.

I didn’t buy that plaque at Hobby Lobby but I just now put a little post-it on the edge of my computer screen with those four little letters:  H-O-P-E.

Hope – It's both a noun and a verb isn't it! And with your help, I hope to never, ever lose it.