The Search for Hope

Despair is infiltrating my normally positive state of mind. Stories of heartache in the world are just unbearable. I think about those in Afghanistan, especially school girls and young women who are thirsty for knowledge and the ability to empower themselves. I pray each day their shine will not be dimmed amidst such sudden threat. I think about the indescribable pounding of natural disaster in Haiti. The rains keep pouring on any prospect for recovery, literally and figuratively. It’s unimaginable and deeply depressing. I think about people still suffering and dying from Covid-19 and the mystifying reluctance of many to be part of the eradication of this determined virus. Meanwhile, hateful rhetoric between different thinking people still pollutes the call for decency and kindness. It feels too much, doesn’t it?

If I allowed myself to stop here with this bleak train of thought, I’d be very, very stuck and very, very sad. My options to help those in Afghanistan, rebuild in Haiti, or bring reason to emotionally charged minds are quite limited. Yes, I can pray or donate, but such outreach feels wholly inadequate. Despite it all, the way out of the bleak is to search for hope. The world’s healing, after all, has no chance if hope dies. 

My humble quest to find hope feels so trite when noted alongside the overwhelming and demoralizing challenges of our big world. In tandem with my lowly ability to effect change for those on the other side of the planet, however, is the bold belief that hope has a rippling effect. I argue we need not look far beyond our own kitchen tables to know that hope is alive and fluid.

My PhD educated niece will soon begin a new job dedicated to early diagnosis of mental health concerns in children. She is answering the call to make the world a safer and more inclusive place for children who struggle with emotional and mental challenges. My grandson’s kindergarten teacher welcomes her students each morning determined to expand the minds of her young students with knowledge and tools that will inspire creativity and passion for a greater good. My Oncologist husband works with a medical assistant whose relentless positive intention with her patients is a game changer and pivotal component of their cancer treatment. We all know what smiling eyes and an infectious laugh can do when laid upon a troubled heart. 

My nephew’s remarkable recovery from severe brain injury continues to show others there’s a path for renewal despite a catastrophic accident. 

I know many examples of hope, and my guess is you do too, in your own world. Many bring light to the fractures of darkness which seem so prevalent. A multitude of others showing up for a multitude more; and so it goes giving hope amidst challenge and adversity. The ripple effect of goodness. Multiply those I know with all you know, and we realize the continuum of people carrying the torch of hope is vast and varied. 

I don’t know many things for sure, but I do know that good begets good. If we all rediscover hope in our own little worlds, then perhaps current of goodness can swell indefinitely and infinitely way beyond our knowing. It can’t hurt, after all. Broken places near and far so desperately need glimmers of light. I will continue to search for that light, and trust that somehow, someway, our collective belief in the power of hope can reach all corners of our hurting world. Won’t you join me?

Photo by Becca Ayala on Unsplash