Hope

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“Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.”

And while the greatest of these is love, hope is what keeps us going, especially when things in our lives are not going as planned...

Hope has the promise that, one day, things will improve! There is light at the other side of the tunnel! A brighter future lies ahead!

Yet hope in itself is just that. Holding onto our hopes may well enable us to cope when times are hard ~ it by itself is hardly ever enough to make things better. Ultimately, to improve on difficult situations action is needed ~ steps need to be taken in order to move forward into that bright future we all hope for.

This is where an interesting dynamic begins...
On one hand it is obvious practical, productive steps need to be taken ~ while on the other hand, without hope that these steps will actually bring us to the light at the end of the tunnel, we may not be willing to take them in the first place.
In a way hope keeps us from getting ourselves in a stagnant, even apathetic mood where any movement in whichever direction is squashed even before it begins...

This also means that when we want to help out those that are struck by disaster, suddenly finding themselves in devastating circumstances ~ just taking steps to bring food, water, and shelter to them ~ although acutely needed, is not enough. For to cope with the despair of a situation, hope is needed. Hope that while things will never be the same again, at some point things will get back to ‘normal’.

With hope, it becomes easier to have faith that whatever the steps, they are taking us in the right direction.
With hope, loving yourself enough to actually take these steps  ~ even if they are small and seem inconsequential in the grand scheme of things ~ creates an energy and a movement that allows things to start improving.

At the same time, if all that is offered is hope without any practical help, again chances are it is going to fall short from really accomplishing anything. Hope in itself is not enough ~ along with hope faith and love are needed. And some movement toward that bright future we are all hoping for.

In other words, “Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.” Yet without hope, faith easily can be lost. Without hope, love may not get a chance to show its formidable force. Without hope, the practical, productive steps may lag so far behind the actuality of a situation that goals aren’t reached.

Yet, without hope, only despair remains...
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