Hope is a Matter of Choice

Ask and You Shall Receive. How many times have I heard that and not understood? It wasn't until the Davids made me watch "Evan Almighty" (instead of allowing me to watch "White Christmas" another time) that my misunderstanding was revealed to me. I learn from the strangest places.

I asked for strength, and God gave me the opportunity to be strong. I chose strength.

I asked for courage, and God gave me the opportunity to be courageous. I chose to be courageous.

I asked for wisdom, and God gave me the opportunity to be wise. I chose to be foolish.

I asked for peace, and God gave me the opportunity to be peaceful. I chose conflict.

I asked for hope, and God gave me the opportunity to be hopeful. I am choosing to be hopeful.

I am choosing wisdom.
I am choosing peace.
I am choosing hope.

Merry Christmas everybody.

Holding the Good Thoughts

It's Christmas Eve. If ever there was a day filled with hope, it has to be Christmas Eve. Christians commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Jewish singles holding Matzo Balls across the United States hoping to find suitable matches for matrimony. Little children all over the world with visions of Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Sinterklass, or Father Christmas dancing through their heads. Soldiers laying down their arms in a Christmas truce praying for a day of peace. Retailers hoping for that last minute shopping blitz so they can make their sales numbers for the year.

I'm glad I let go of the bad yesterday. So many good things came my way since then, none of them expected but all of them appreciated.

Family members have told me how much they love me. Even though I always suspect as much, I never get tired of getting an "I love you" from a family member.

Friends have reminded me that they too love me and value my friendship. I often wonder if they just keep me around because I'm an enigma, but it turns out they really like me.

Facebook friends have reminded me that I am a nice person and that some times bad things happen to nice people, but that I should stay nice. It's wonderful to discover that there are more nice people than bad people in the world.

A neighbor brought us over a bag of groceries. He works for the Pepsi Company and they give out bag of groceries and he and his wife wanted to thank for me keeping such a lovely garden. At first it used to bother me that they would go out of their way to drive by my house every morning but after she explained that seeing my garden in the morning helped her start her day off right, I started enjoying my garden more and taking better care of it. (Turns out many of our favorite foods are made by the Pepsi Company!)

Another neighbor brought over gifts for David Jr. Her son will be 18 on Christmas Day. Three years ago his Dad physically attacked him with a tire iron on his birthday and David Sr. intervened. When Bear found out it was A's birthday, he gave him his copy of the "The Dangerous Book for Boys" which he had just received. Since then, Bear and I go by to visit to check on our neighbor, whose divorce should be final in April. Divorce is bad, but staying in an abusive relationship worse.

Another neighbor invited us in for dinner. We accepted. Her parents were visiting from Alabama and remembered Bear and I from their visit three years ago, so we had a great time catching up.

I could go on ... it was a very long day! As David Sr. and I compared notes on the great things that happened in less than 24-hours, he started crying. He had all but given up hope for humanity but from the kindness of so many, his faith was restored.

I am so, so glad I let go of the anger. My heart is open. I think I'm now ready to start my journey of hope. Turns out I was just preparing myself for the journey before.

The Opposite of Hope (Day 4 of my journey)

The opposite of "hope" is "despair". From the Merriam-webster.com/ dictionary

intransitive verb : to lose all hope or confidence <
despair of winning>transitive verb obsolete : to lose hope for

That doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, so I guess I’ll stay on the hopeful path. Still I have to be careful what I hope for. The cerebral part of me feels that it’s okay to hope for bad things, but every time I’ve tried that my gut and heart hurts, so I guess I’ll have to follow my gut/ heart on this one.

Maybe that is what I am supposed to learn on this journey, to quiet my head and listen to my heart.


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