1.3 STILL HAVE HOPE

You cannot tailor-make a situation in life, but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations - Zig Ziglar

Faith and Hope live within you; it’s psychological but is greatly influenced by external factors like family, social surroundings, media and friends. Hope is all around us, but most people don’t have the eye for it, and end up missing up; and hopeless. I still have hope because I recognise it all around me.

If you can look at the sunset and smile,

Then you still have hope.

If you can find beauty in the colors of a small flower,

Then you still have hope.

If you can find pleasure in the movement of a butterfly,

Then you still have hope.

If the smile of a child can still warm your heart,

Then you still have hope.

If you can see the good in other people,

Then you still have hope.

If the rain breaking on a roof top can still lull you to sleep,

Then you still have hope.

If the sight of a rainbow still makes you stop and stare in wonder,

Then you still have hope.

If the soft fur of a favored pet still feels pleasant under your fingertips,

Then you still have hope.

If you meet new people with a trace of excitement and optimism,

Then you still have hope.

If you give people the benefit of a doubt,

Then you still have hope.

If you still offer your hand in friendship to others that have touched your life,

Then you still have hope.

If receiving an unexpected card or letter still brings a pleasant surprise,

Then you still have hope.

If the suffering of others still fills you with pain and frustration,

Then you still have hope.

If you refuse to let a friendship die, or accept that it must end,

Then you still have hope.

If you look forward to a time or place of quiet and reflection,

Then you still have hope.

If you still watch love stories and want the endings to be happy,

Then you still have hope.

If you can look to the past and smile, then you still have hope.

If, when faced with the bad, when told everything is futile,

You can still look up and end the conversation with the phrase "yeah... BUT...”

Then you still have hope.

Hope is such a marvelous thing. It bends, it twists, it

Sometimes hides, but rarely does it break.

It sustains us when nothing else can.

It gives us reason to continue and courage to move ahead,

When we tell ourselves we'd rather give in.

Hope puts a smile on our face when the heart cannot manage.

Hope puts our feet on the path when our eyes cannot see it.

Hope moves us to act when our souls are confused of the direction.

Hope is a wonderful thing, something to be cherished and nurtured,

And something that will refresh us in return.

And it can be found in each of us, and it can bring light into the darkest of places.

Ponder points

If you have no HOPE, then you have dreams. If you have no dreams then you have no vision of the future for your life; therefore you aren’t really living life to the fullest. You’re just dragging yourself through life with no idea of where you’re heading. Decide today to change all that, decide today to turn your life around, decide today to dream and have a vision for the future. Decide today because YOU STILL HAVE HOPE!!

Do not look where you fell, but look where you slipped - African Proverb

***This is an extract from my book "A Hope for Tomorrow"  ***