Hope. It might be a four lettered word, but it sure means at lot of different things to a lot of different people. I recently read a rather strange book having to do with the world as we know it being invaded by alien "stuff". The people that survived were the children and those who gathered up the children. The adults who gathered the children didn't just give up. To me, I guess that is what hope is. Not to give up. Certainly I can see how people give up. I most certainly have been shot down more than once, but I have always gotten back up.(sometimes quicker than others) Sometimes you just need to take a step back and take a deep breath before you venture forward, and there's nothing wrong with that. What I sometimes have a hard time wrapping my brain around are those who get knocked down and just wallow in it. Playing the victim for weeks, months, and even years. If you lay in it long enough, you will never get up.
Hope. The idea that it will get better. I receive hope from the fact that I have Jesus in my life and I know that he is walking this walk with me. Hope. The idea that there is a plan for me. Hope. The idea that I can encourage others when they feel all hope is gone. Hope. The idea that all that happens to me, good or not so good, is for a greater purpose. I think you get the idea. Hope. Without it what do you have? Hope is a way of thinking.