Hope
“Woe to
the [one] whose heart has not learned while young to hope, to
love—and to put its trust in life.”
Joseph
Conrad
I confess that I am an
optimist. I have had many painful experiences in my life, but I have
never lost hope. A couple of
weeks ago, a friend of a friend committed suicide. He seemed to be a
person who had everything going for him—a successful business, many
friends who adored him, he was married with a child—and yet he lost
hope to such an extent that he took his own life. Everyone who knew
him feels shocked, dazed. I don't understand this level of
hopelessness, so I cannot speak to it.
I can say, however, that
I don't know how anyone puts one foot in front of another if they do
not carry hope in their heart. Helen Keller, who didn't allow
deafness and blindness stop her, said this: “Optimism is the
faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and
confidence.” American actor, Bradley Whitford, best known for
his role in the TV show, West Wing, also believes hope must take an
active role in producing results. He says: “...whatever your
beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to
come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace
happen...yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.” Hope,
then, is an active verb, a participatory event, and not a spectator
sport.
Moving from pessimism to
optimism requires intention and grit on our part. Despair, even
terrible depression, is treatable. The lodestar is life itself. If we
hold on to the idea that receiving the gift of a human lifetime is,
in fact, grace in action, then we are more likely to move through the
dark valleys, which every human being encounters, to something
brighter. Every time we open our eyes to another day is a gift beyond
measure. Gratitude provides a path toward hope.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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