In a desire to understand how to rediscover our sometimes-elusive internal wellspring of hope, I asked a number of friends, clients, family members, and acquaintances, “How do you keep hope alive in your soul?” Some of their answers follow:
Ï Believe in a Higher Power that doesn’t need to get elected.
Ï Be of service to others.
Ï Consciously try to stay out of the fear energy that is prevalent in the media and society at large.
Ï Trust in my relationship with God.
Ï Believe that, in the grand scheme of things, we’re taken care of, no matter how dire external circumstances appear.
Ï Ask people who love me to remind me that I’m loveable. And tell me why.
Ï Be aware of and grateful for all my current blessings.
Ï Stay connected with the spiritual source that feeds me at the time.
Ï Read and hear uplifting stories.
Ï Do something loving for a family member, friend, a stranger, a group in need, or myself.
Many of their answers indicated an underlying spiritual belief, so I asked the same question of people whom I knew to be unsure about religion or spirituality. Their answers:
Ï Be kind and gentle with myself, especially when I’m vulnerable.
Ï Turn to friends and family for support and reassurance.
Ï Become especially aware of signs of hope, such as the stars, sun, and Earth, which all keep doing their thing no matter what we humans do.
Ï I trust the “Honorable Universe” when I can’t believe in the “Honorable Human.”
Ï Do something for those less fortunate.
Ï Take care of my body... Keep it healthy and rested.
Ï Play with my baby and drink in her innocence and natural goodness.
Ï First I complain and whine, and then I turn my attention to the good stuff in my life, and in the world. It’s there, but you have to look for it and focus on it.
Take a moment to ask yourself, How do I stay upbeat and keep hope alive in my soul?
Each group’s answers touched on heart qualities like love, support, connection, service, creativity, self-care, positive focus, and gratitude. As mystics, poets, and spiritual teachers have long believed, the heart is the seat of the soul. What activates your heart energy?
What energizes your soul, fills your well, and elevates your attitude?
From my personal and professional experience, I have observed that it takes a belief in and reliance on something higher, deeper, wider, and richer than ourselves to grow hope. If not a Godlike energy, then principles, such as kindness, justice, and compassion for all.
As the sage Rabindranath Tagore wrote, “Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.” When David, my minister friend, is in the metaphorical belly of the whale, as Jonah was, it eventually dawns on him that he needs to remember what he’s forgotten: God/Love watches his back. As a result, consciously or subconsciously, he turns toward God and begins to see the light even before it appears. If a man who has chosen a career based on spirituality struggles with personal darkness and emerges once again into the light of faith and hope, I trust that you and I can drink from that well also, even when darkness seems to reign.
Excerpted from How to Stay Upbeat in a Beat Down World by Sue Patton Thoele. Available on Amazon.
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