Thou shall expect Hope through disappointment…..

“Hope is both the earliest and most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive.  If life is to be sustained, hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired.”

~~ Erik H. Erikson

  

It is no secret that disappointment, hurt, heartache and loss are all part of this life-journey.

In fact, I am willing to bet that every single one of you have experienced some sort of hurt or disappointment that altered your life in such a way that it propelled you into a completely different direction than what you had meticulously planned for yourself.

If we live long enough, we will ALL experience some sort of hurt or disappointment at different points in our lives.

Every single day, someone is experiencing:

*A job loss

*Financial burdens

*Divorce

*Illness

*Disease

*Physical pain

*Trouble or heartache with a child, a friend or a family member

….and the list goes on and on.

In times of trouble or heartache, we oftentimes want to suppress our sadness to the outside world and “handle” it in the privacy of our own heart.  We don’t want the world to be burdened by or even know about our troubles so we hide our grief and pain and “save it” for when we are alone.

I completely understand this, but having gone through some of life’s stumbling-blocks a few times myself, I recognize the importance of friends and the healing that friends can lend just by extending simple words of hope during our darkest hour.

I once read a quote that stated it best.  It read:  “A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you’ve forgotten the words.”

I have in my home one of my most treasured possessions in a big white Rubbermaid container.  In that container are stored hundreds of letters, emails and cards from friends, relatives, neighbors, church members, children and others who wrote to me during a difficult loss in my life.

Each message of love and support was a reminder to my heart of what I already knew but couldn’t express during this time of despair.  These loving sentiments from friends began filling my spirit with such HOPE.  And as Hope filled my spirit, gratitude began fueling my soul.

It’s an incredible thing really…..

There is an old saying, “Hope has the ability to see the invisible, to feel the intangible, and achieve the impossible.”

So, as disappointment can devastate, it is that whisper of Hope that tells us to keep moving forward and to hang on just a little longer.

Hope through disappointment can be the catalyst that sends us soaring into our finest hour, because when you feel you have nothing, Hope proves to give you everything.

Hope is what can lead us to our greatest destiny.

We have to come to a place of understanding that when we are in the darkest hour of our lives, we cannot make it on our own… We need help.  We need our loved ones to remind us of what we already know to be true to our heart... There is always hope…. There is always faith….And after going through any difficult time, there is always a life-lesson to be learned.

These hard-earned lessons are meant to strengthen the very core of who we are and what we are meant to be for this world.

It is also during these times that I believe that we are being prepared for something pretty terrific down the road.  You see, we are being prepared for GREATNESS.

Relish in that fact and draw comfort in the knowledge that Hope always triumphs over experience.  Always.