Keep Hope Alive

Yes, I know and let’s go beyond thinking about the messenger to the meaning of the message.

Keep. Hope. Alive. It’s a demand, not a request.

It’s a challenge that is yours to take. What does that mean to you in this moment of your life? What circumstances are attacking your level of hope? What corner of your mind is struggling with a conce
about the future? What nerve do I have to demand that you keep hope alive in the midst of what you are going through right now?

Keep Hope Alive. What good does it do to repeat such a well worn phrase when you consider all the conflicts in your life and in the world today?

Hope serves a critical purpose in our lives.

If you can keep hope alive, you can face any challenge, trial or trouble. If you can keep hope alive, you can look beyond your current situation into a bigger brighter future. If you can keep hope alive, hope will feed your dreams. If you can keep hope alive, hope will give you strength to keep moving when circumstances seem stacked against you.

So how do you keep hope alive?

1. Be Willing to Hope

Often times we forget that being hopeful is a decision that we make for ourselves. So the question to ask yourself is- “Do I want to have hope?” Don’t allow yourself to believe that it is not your choice to hope. Wanting to have hope is the first and most important step to having hope. Give yourself permission to hope despite the circumstances. We’ll get to circumstances in a moment. For now, acknowledge your willingness, your desire to keep hope alive.

2. Look to the Future

Hope is about expectancy. Hope clings to a vision of something wonderful up ahead that is unseen or unknown. If your current situation is stressful or painful or harmful – whatever it is – ask yourself “What, instead of the past or current situation, do I want to feel, be, or do?” Boldly call on your vivid imagination to create the most ideal and desirable circumstance that you can think of. Give yourself a moment to reach for the sky. And then reach even further for the stars. Yes, stretch your imagination about what is possible. Dream an audacious dream!

3. Connect to the Meaning

Now, you have this dream – this thing to look forward to with expectancy and hope. But why is this dream important to you? What will this dream, when realized, bring to you? What does this desired circumstance do for you? What purpose does it serve to work toward this dream? What powerful and pleasant emotions will you feel in the process of attaining this vision?

3. Write it Down

Get a pen, pencil, crayon, paintbrush, whatever you have & record your hope and its purpose somewhere that you can refer to it again and often. Be sure to collect all the important details of this audacious desire. Keep this recording where you can reference it the next time, and every time your hope is shaken.

4. Speak it Out Loud

There is power in your words. Sit up straight and with all the conviction you can muster, speak this vision to yourself as if it was happening right at this moment. If you have to practice this a few times, all the better. Speak its meaning and what it will do for you as if it already has. Yes, louder! Speak LIFE into your vision!

5. Take Action

Yes, I hear you saying with doubt “but what about those terrible circumstances?” Ok, so what about them? Seriously, So What!? Those are just your current circumstances. See but now you have all this hope. Use this hope to decide what step you can take in this moment to move you just one small step toward that vision. Just one. Don’t worry about all the other steps or how far you’ll have to travel. Just take the first step. Someone smarter than me once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” So today, take one small step. Then you can begin to put one foot in front of the other.

6. Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Hope, particularly in stressful situations, is not something you have to protect once or twice. We will continue to have situations that threaten our hope. Its not really about the particular threat, it’s about our response to the threat. Each time you are faced with a doubt or fear, go back to the purpose of having hope. Repeat your visions and your dreams. Remind yourself of the steps you have taken and then focus on a step you can take now.

Now remember this one thing. We all get off track and that’s okay if we can remind ourselves of the meaning behind our hope. If we can chose to be willing to hope and take actions to enforce that hope. So yes, keep hope alive is absolutely a demand. But this is a demand that your highest self is calling you to hear. In essence, it is my sincere hope but it is your demand to yourself that you will always and forever Keep Hope Alive!