Pursuing Hope

Pursuing Hope

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“In the end there doesn’t have to be anyone who understands you, there just has to be someone who wants to.”     Robert Brault

“Family is not an important thing it is everything.”     Michael Fox

“When something is missing in your life, it usually turns out to be someone.”    Robert Brault

It probably appears to be silly to say we search for hope but actually it is so much closer to us than we know. We don’t see it nor do we really desire to have it. Sometimes I think some people enjoy complaining. If they don’t have any aches or pains they discuss minor issues. Of course they can always complain about the weather. Those who thrive on the negative aspects of life are training themselves to lose hope and dwell in defeat.The longer people choose a defeatist attitude the more ingrained it becomes. To make matters worse they drag others down with them. None of us want to feel down trodden but by constantly being with people who permeate the air with negative thoughts and ideas, it becomes contagious. It happens silently and before you know it we become the person waking up complaining about the weather.

I honestly think if it were sunny every day we would totally ignore the sunshine, gentle breeze and sparkling lights bouncing off of everything and everybody. After a few days of rain, even if we are not complaining, we admire the sun and are thankful to God for the beautiful day. I wonder if that is part of our problem with hope. It is so close that we don’t see it.

We all have so much to be happy about. We really do. None of us or few of us make a list of things we are grateful for. If someone asks us to we turn it into a joke. After all we need to appear to be without any needs or wants. Ensuring others see us as self sufficient and self contained is important. Show no weakness or others will step on or over you.

Any weakness is seen as a form of being a loser. We pride ourselves on our toughness of spirit yet we most likely consume the most medications in the world. We drink more caffeine to keep up the stamina. We consume pills to keep our anxiety low. We focus on worldly pursuits and gains so it leaves us little time to actually observe anything of value. Work is a priority for everyone. Of course jobs, bosses and the grind of life force us to work in order to keep our jobs and take care of our families.

It is still a sad truth that if offered more pay to work on Holidays, most people say yes. Of course we may feel it brings us more money and may allow us a better vacation. In the end the cost is dear. We take from the spiritual and give to the material. Before long we are caught up in the whole system and forget about what is relevant. I am as guilty. I worked a job so detrimental to my health yet believed it was the right thing to do.

If we wake up to the fact  of our lot in life we have not lost our beliefs. Even coming to an understanding later in life is better than never comprehending what is valuable. I know we never take the time to consider it. We are too busy accumulating things. If we own a car and gain more money, we buy a bigger car. How did we gain anything more.  I read that some Hollywood stars spend over a thousand dollars for a pair of shoes. I  don’t see them as better off than anybody else because they end up squandering more of their money for the same items.

If we just slowed down and considered what we enjoy and love, we might be surprised at how easy it would be to make time for those things. We make it more difficult than it is when we aimlessly pursue things without value. It is a money myth. We believe we need more and more. It ends up not making us any happier and definitely stresses us a lot. The build up of fear and anxiety so consumes us that it blocks out any legitimate thinking.

Unless we honestly wake up and realize that maybe our hopes have come true, we will likely keep seeking  those things that bring more heartache than pleasure. If we did a survey asking people what they really wanted out of life they perhaps might reply in this manner.  They want love, contentment,  peace, and security. What they can’t see is that perhaps they already possess that. They possibly lose it through their investigation of other unnecessary items.

Marriage, children, friendships, family ties might all bring love peace and contentment. It becomes disruptive when we are so involved with the material aspect, we begin severing our ties and grasping for nonsense which brings our downfall. If we observe it from the outside we can see it clearly. A man or woman is absorbed with work. They ignore their family and are rewarded with a disdainful wife or husband who is left dealing with kids and the house. Each gets lonely and cheats. Kids are being cast aside and get into trouble at school. Wife or husband divorces each other for cheating. Kids are devastated as their life changes for the worse.

The money is lost due to having two households to establish, and more chaos is found in making arrangements for dealing with the kids. Each of them may add more kids with new remarriages. On the surface all appears to be together at first because we basically have the same dreams in mind. Of course we don’t alter our course and continue focusing on work and and all those other inconsequential things of life and eventually find ourselves going down the same path.

To find love peace contentment and the hope we desire forces us to make an investigation regarding the way  we may keep our love and peace. We all know how to get it but then we forget about devoting time to that area of our lives. If we look around us we will find that so many of us are on the same road. If we observe the flat tires from the obstacles faced then maybe we should think about a different road.

Running away from our lives and or supplementing objects or other people as stand ins is not an answer. It is a band aid applied to a gushing wound. It is going to let go. We don’t see it and we have no hope because everyone else is doing the same things we are doing. We get in the groove of life and assume it is the right way to go. Think of it as playing a game of chess. Take and observe the consequences of every move you make as it pertains to your closest loves which is your family and home. How will your selections affect that area of your life.

Maybe wives and husbands get nasty and crabby. Their stress would be a contributing factor. Why would a husband or wife turn to another woman or man we might ask. Maybe because they are just as burdened  and anxious as we are. The love for each other may still be present but the worries overshadow reality. When the trust gets broken it is hard to overcome. I think it is possible but not easy to put things back together. I say this because love is likely there only drowning in commitments and broken trust.

If we can see it we can save a life and marriage and family. Of course it is wonderful to recognize this before we reach the point of meltdown. I have been close to the meltdown. I appreciate the give and take in marriage and the extreme difficulty of forgiving each other their given destructive patterns in dissolving or destroying parts of the bond. In the end if we attempt to recognize that the faith is and always was close at hand, we can live an easier life full of love and peace. Some things can’t be bought. All the money in the world can’t buy the love of family. Attempt today to see that you have all you need in front of you. Be thankful, stop complaining and steer clear of the naysayers and braggers who have yet to find the love and peace.

“Where hope would otherwise become hopelessness,  it becomes faith.”    Robert Brault

“Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got.”    Robert Brault

“The little money I have that is my wealth, but the things I have for which I would not take money, that is my treasure.”    Robert Brault

Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your gold and good health have vanished.”    Og Mandino

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