I’ve been thinking about hope lately. How it sustains us, where we find it, how we share it with others.
“Love after loss has given me hope.”
There is hope in watching the snow slowly recede from the landscape, knowing that spring is on its way. There is hope in seeing a city street renamed to honor an unsung hero whose recognition was long overdue. There is hope in reading reports of profound kindness and generosity coming out of a war zone in Ukraine.
Many of the most moving stories I have heard from the stories in A Peace of My Mind are stories of hope. I am spellbound by stories of people who have found to cultivate hope…choose hope…or hold onto hope…in the midst of hopeless situations.
In so many ways, hope is a choice. It is a verb. It is an intentional practice.
Earlier this month we spent time with two schools in Wisconsin. Northwood Tech, at both their New Richmond and Rice Lake campuses. We asked the question, “What gives you hope?”
You can see their responses below. Take a look, and then accept a little assignment, if you will. Answer the question for yourself, in the comments below. And then think about how you can share a little hope with others this week.
In the midst of all the devastating news of war across the globe, I am filled with hope when O learn pf people like Mariana Ovsyannikova, the Russian TV reporter who demonstrated her opposition to the war in the Ukraine by holding up a handmade poster opposing her country’s invasion on livetime television. It is people like her who keep people like me keeping on!
I am finding that I am getting a renewed spirit and inspiration from music…from all kinds of music. As a recently retired music teacher, I am spending time defining my new purpose in life. I am finding hope while becoming a helper in the background. I will never change the world, but I may make a difference in one person’s life each day by doing something special, a good deed, helping them out, or just making them laugh. There is hope in this world and in my case it just comes in small packages.
Thanks Gary….I have no doubt that those packages are larger than you know…
Springtime, kindness, good humor, communal listening for God, and did I say springtime?
and springtime….don’t forget springtime!
On a personal level I have experienced, through my yoga and mediation practice, that inner peace and calm is always accessible when I slow down and am mindful. Instead of reacting, I have the choice to take some time and make a more mindful response that opens connection instead of a habitual response that divides. When I can pause and respond mindfully, the result is always better and this new habit is reinforced. This gives me hope and confidence that I am growing and evolving.
On a global level I get hope from the personal stories I read on John’s blog. They allow me to connect on some level with all different kinds of people and to realize that as human beings we share the same desires to be loved and cared for and secure in our basic needs. I also see other efforts like A Peace of My Mind gaining traction all over the world, and this gives me a lot of hope.
love this…thank for sharing, Heidi…