“At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division.” Jesse Jackson
How are you feeling about the pandemic? Are you always fearful? Do you feel hopeful?
In this time when our lives are so disrupted and flung apart in many ways, we feel chaos around us each day. If it’s not the chaos of taking care of a house full of children and trying to work, it may be the chaos caused by not having the money to pay bills or buy the medication we need. Most of what we are feeling is based on fear and it is difficult to hope things will get better when they seem to be getting worse.
Without hope that life will improve, it is difficult to face the next day or the next challenge and make good choices. Always staying rooted in the darkness of the moment prevents us from seeing possibilities that might improve or solve our problems. Even when we hope for what is impossible, we are moving in the right direction.
Hope May Help Solve Problems
What is hope for you? When we hope for a positive solution to a problem, we are forced to elevate our thinking and step away from our fears. We have to ask, “Is there some way I can improve this situation?”
At the moment, our lives are so restricted that it is a challenge to expand our thinking to do what is safe and sensible and be hopeful. But how we look at the situation also affects how we deal with it. Can we see anything positive in the current situation?
Having the family all together instead of each running in a different direction may allow us to really talk to one another, to connect in ways we’re often too busy to experience. It may be an opportunity to cook together, clean out stuffed closets, or play games we often don’t have time for. If we live alone, it may give us more time to communicate with friends, electronically and otherwise.
If we are creative, this may be a time to create more paintings or sculptures, write that novel we’ve been putting off, or sew new curtains for the bedroom. We may do more meditation and reading than we have time to do when we are working. It may even be a time to create a vision for a new business or a new life style.
Hope Is the Light That Transforms Life
As Jesse Jackson implies, we can only truly move forward if we have hope. Allowing fear and division to become dominant in our lives will only take us backward away from the light that may show us how to transform our current difficulties into a life that will sustain us through this challenging time.
Hope creates in us the belief that this pandemic will end if we all do our part in protecting ourselves and helping others. A simple kindness may make a huge difference to those who feel overwhelmed or lack the basic needs of life. Hope leads us to persevere and be the light that overwhelms the darkness, creating a new and better life for the world.
© 2020 Georganne Spruce
Awakening to the Dance 
I do see hope in the way that people have been so creative, helpful to others, and resourceful. Thanks for the reminder to keep the lights on toward better days ahead.