Most
of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people
who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. If
it were not for hope the heart would break. The greatest revolution in our generation is that,
by changing the inner attitudes of our minds, we can change the outer
aspects of our lives. Let's learn from the following article shared by
an unknown author.
Hope is the mechanism that keeps the human
race persistently alive and dreaming, planning
and building. Hope is not the opposite of
realism. It is the opposite of doubt and
despair. The best of humanity has always hoped
when there was no way, lived what seemed
unlivable, and managed to build when there was
little to build on.
A merry heart does good like a medicine says the Proverbs in the Bible.
This
ancient knowledge has gained new confirmation in
our time.
It was found after World War II, for example,
that American prisoners of war who had been
convinced that they would come out alive, whose
mind and spirit were focused on life as it was
to be lived in the future, emerged with much
less damage than those who felt they would never
go home again.
Dr.
Martin E. P. Seligman, of the University of
Pennsylvania, has done much research on the
causes of depression, the disorder that affects
millions every year. He has found that depressed
people regard every minor obstacle as an
impassable barrier. Responding to anything is
felt to be useless because "nothing I do
matters." He
said that successful therapy starts when we
begin to believe again that we can be effective
human beings and can control our lives.
We
hope as naturally as the seeds sprout and the
sun rises, and perhaps for the same reasons.
Hope's signature seems to be written on earth
and sky and sea and all that lives. But natural
and vital as hope may be, we can lose it. With
many of us, hope simply grows tired as our lives
grow tired.
Precisely because hope is in the natural flow of
life, it is unleashed naturally by removing the
abnormal impediments that block it.
Here
are some suggestions:
Hope
for a moment -
There are times when it is hard to believe in
the future, when we are temporarily just not
brave enough. When this happens, concentrate on
the present.
Cultivate le petit bonheur ("the little
happiness") until courage returns. Look forward
to the beauty of the next moment, the next hour,
the promise of a good meal, sleep, a book, a
movie, the immediate likelihood that tomorrow
the sun will rise. Sink roots into the present
until the strength grows to think about
tomorrow.
Take
Action
- "When I can't see any way out," a
stranger wrote some years ago, "I do something
anyway." This is good advice to anyone
paralyzed by despair.
Believe in Hope
- Don't be persuaded that the pessimists have a
corner on truth. These people would rather live
in the fog of skepticism than chance
disappointment. It
is the adult in us, not the child, which, when
knocked down, gets up again and says, against
the odds, "Tomorrow will be better." Hope
is not a lie, but the truth itself.
Summon Hope -
It is as right as spring sunlight. It is a goal
in itself, and exercise in gallantry, a frame of
mind, a style of life, a climate of the heart.
May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow
with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. -
Romans 15:13
When hope dies, what else lives?
-
Ama
Ata Aido,
Ghanaian writer.
Hope
is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tunes
without the words and never stops at all.- Emily Dickenson
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Tim
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