THE MAGIC OF HOPE

You don't realize how important "Hope" is until you lose it. Hope is what makes you feel you have some control over your destiny and whatever situation or challenges you are facing. It provides the sense of having options and the motivation and ability to take action. Almost everyone at sometime in their lives will experience something bad, but when several bad things happen to someone and multiply enough that there is a feeling of there being no way out and nothing that one can do that person may see death as being their only alternative and answer to their present troubles.The loss of Hope is devastating.

How the gift of a used computer turned into an even more valuable "GIFT OF HOPE!"

This story recently came to my attention and inspired the subject matter of this article. The background: a woman of uncertain age who had been dealing with several bad things over the course of the last two years; cancer operation, loss of savings, job loss, and finally, after the collapse of the local real estate market, the loss of over $300,000 in equity when her home was foreclosed. She dealt with everything with a sense of loss over ridden by her natural optimism and a spirit that said she could overcome these minor blips in the road, even after the 2nd diagnosis of two cancerous tumors along with the side effects of the radiation treatment in addition to some recent ongoing pain that hadn't been explained. That pain had been keeping her from sleeping more than 1 or two hours per night so by the time the last straw happened she was quite sleep deprived and that is the time when your emotions are very close to the surface and you find yourself crying at the drop of a hat.

Finally, there came a point when hit with that famous last straw. Amazingly, it was the last thing that probably sounds like such a small thing compared to everything she had encountered so far. Her trusty computer suddenly displayed that greatly feared "black screen" that is never a good omen. In this case it meant what you have probably already deduced - a computer crash! What to do? This computer was actually her only tool for searching for work and represented also her connection to the outside community. She knew that even if the computer could be salvaged it would cost money - money she didn't have. Important records were also stored on this computer and even if that was all that could be saved, it, too, would cost. Reduced to tears, she verbalized to a friend that she felt like she was just taking up space.

For the first time in her life, she felt totally helpless. This from a person who found it difficult to ask anyone for help and who generally was a giver and not a taker.

This friend turns out to be one of those few people we occasionally hear about who despite being incredibly busy with the challenges and demands of their own lives still find the time to be sensitive and helpful to others without stripping them of their dignity. I know this person also and can tell you that she is a person who has also dealt with many of life's adversities since age 15 when she lost her mother to cancer. She went on to marry her college sweetheart after graduation and later gave birth to five wonderful children along the way - all but two of those are now married and have produced a total of 7 grandchildren for her to enjoy. In addition, she has conquered cancer herself, works full-time, plus is active in her church and her family activities. Frankly, I am exhausted just describing a part of her life.

It was important to provide in-depth information about this good samaritan so you could understand how impressive it was to learn about what she did to help my other friend. The good samaritan enlisted one of her grown sons who had some computer skills and offered his help in rescuing the downed computer. That in itself was like offering a life preserver to a drowning man, but her son surprised his mother by calling around to a couple of friends and asking them if they or someone else they knew had a computer they weren't currently using that could be loaned or given to the lady in question. He came to his mother with the information that one of his friends had a lap top he no longer used and that he was willing to give it to the lady in need.

This story still makes me tear up as much as when I first heard about it. It also made the good samaritan tear up and feel even more proud of her son for his taking a proactive interest and action in helping. Of course, I believe it was the good example my friend and her husband had always set for their children that influenced the son's actions so there turned out to be a few heroes in this story. So, now you can see how a gift of a computer turned out to be a gift of hope. I hope this tale inspired you to be more aware of situations around you where you might be able to help even in a small way.

The Importance and Magic of Hope - excerpts from: The Importance and Magic of Hope by Ron Fields in Life Style Choices, February 16, 2009

"Times are very challenging for many people today; be it job loss, divorce, death of a loved one, a parent with Alzheimers...

Do not forget the importance of hope. Hope lifts a person up; it makes a person feel that he or she can accomplish what is needed and can do what needs to be done in the face of what may be near- insurmountable obstacles. People endure immense suffering and hardship; unfortunately a person may give up when a word of encouragement, something to give hope, might embolden him or her to not give up....."

We all hope. It's what keeps us alive. DAVID MAMET, Speed-the-Plow

Hope is the spur of life. Edward Counsel, Maxims

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope. Winston Churchill

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged must end in disappointment. Samuel Johnson

Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve, And hope without an object cannot live. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, Work Without Hope