Hope – Thought For The Every Day

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Hope is an interesting thing!

We are all hoping for something , right?

• That dream job or position.
• The right person to come into our lives.
• A child to make your life/family complete.

These are some of the big things.

And then there are the things we hope for but don’t always actually think of in terms of something we hope for:

• Happiness
• Love
• Feeling a part of something

You might not even know, consciously, that you hope for these things except for that feeling you get when you get one of them.

And what about when you lose one of these things?

How do you handle it?

What do you do when you’ve lost hope?

Lost Hope?

Here are a few suggestions:

• First, there’s something very important I want you to remember!, allow yourself to grieve!!

Whether it’s a big thing or a small thing. Give yourself time!

One of my biggest pet peeves in life is when you are in the midst of grief and someone says something like “you just have to get over it’, ‘you have to move on’, ‘it takes time’.

Now, before you get upset, I’ve said these things before, myself, and I know whenever they are said it comes from a place of support.

It can just be very frustrating when you really just need someone to say ‘I’m sorry’, ‘Can I do anything to help’ or maybe just give you a hug and be told that they are there for you.

Or here’s sort of a new favorite for me –

Don’t forget you’re human.

It’s o.k. to have a meltdown,

just don’t unpack and live there.

∼Unknown

Especially the last line – just don’t’ unpack and live there!

So, how do you know how long to give yourself?

Well, unfortunately, there’s no set time! I know, sucks right? Everyone will be different.

But this leads to my next suggestion.

• Take one day at a time and start taking small steps back to hope as soon as you can.

Now, this might mean you have to change your hopes, reevaluate life, etc.

Let me give you an example: I always hoped to be a dancer for someone like J. Lo. After years of auditioning and taking classes I realized that I just wasn’t meant to be her dancer.

(Oh, I still have hope that one day I might get the chance so, if any of you out there know how to hook me up, I’m listening :))

Needless to say, I am no longer actively pursuing it. But I do have new hopes and dreams and those are the ones I’m focusing on now.

• Remember that seasons always change.

I tell you this because of my own life experience.

Bad times will come! It’s life and it’s true what they say – there will be good days and there will be bad days.

And you wouldn’t be able to appreciate the good if you didn’t also have the bad. I’ll be honest, I dislike this phrase, lol. I think because it’s frustratingly true. But, I promise, you will have good days again.

• It’s up to you to move forward.

I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.

Benjamin Disraeli

The more I think about this quote the more I think this has been a huge motto for me throughout my life.

If you are prepared for the worst then you will be ready to move forward and start hoping for the best again.

When you’ve thought about all of the possible options of how life will go, it will be easier to move forward.

Now, fair warning, you may still find yourself at some point during your life wondering how you got to where you are.

For the life of me, I would never, in a million, trillion years, have thought I’d be where I am right now. This was not how life was supposed to go for me but here I am. I can either be bitter or hopeful.

I chose hopeful!!!!

And I’ll leave you with this last thought.

Only in the darkness can you see the stars.

Martin Luther King Jr

A gentle reminder that beauty can be seen in our bad times if we just look.

So, now let’s look at how to have hope and stay hopeful.

How to have Hope

• Stay positive

As I’ve mentioned, life has its ups and downs. The trick is to do your best to stay positive during the down time and to remember to be grateful during the positive times.

• Sometimes we have to look at things in a different way

Maybe you’ve seen this quote:

The problem is not the problem.

The problem is your attitude about the problem.

∼Captain Jack Sparrow

Think about that for a second.

Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves in our thinking!

It’s up to us to watch our own thoughts.

It’s not easy, but to find hope and to hold on to your hope it is so important.

Remember, you are in control of your thoughts.

If you hold on to negative thoughts, they will hold on to you!!!

• Just like above, remember that seasons change.

When you’re in a low spot and you’re starting to lose hope, know that it won’t last forever, especially if you follow the above two thoughts!

I hope (see what I did there 😉 that this helps you find and keep your hope in life!

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How are you with handling your hope? How do you deal when you lose hope? Please share with us below in the comments so we can all grow! Thanks!!