Heart Pocket Word for the Day is Hope!

The word from my heart pocket is Hope!

"There's hope", we say, as if it's standing there. We keep hope around and it twinkles at us while it sits on the shelf, waiting for the next time we need it. It's always there. There's always hope.

I've surely relied on hope to get me through a lot of dark hours. I've been so grateful it was there, ready and waiting for me to clutch and claw at it, holding on fast. While my arms were wrapped around hope, I felt that it is the only thing keeping me alive. 

That is hope's purpose. It's a lifeboat. It lets us cling. It keeps us from drowning. It helps us get up in the morning and put one foot in front of the other. We attach ourselves to our hope and for the time that it keeps us afloat, it is good. 

Like any lifesaving device, there is the danger that it can become a crutch. Hanging on to hope without movement to a new level can cripple us. Hope isn't meant to be an eternal state of mind. When we focus too long and identify too much with our hope we can become weaker instead of gaining the strength we hoped our hope would bring.

Hope is a belief that something will get better, something new is on the way, there is change about to happen. That belief is what bridges the gap and in that purpose hope is stellar. Once we arrive safely, however, hope must step aside and let others take the lead. Others,like: responsibility, acceptance, forgiveness, love, determination, persistence, belief in self, and discipline. To hope is to have a desire to live. We envision what we want and we hope for it. The hope is attached to the dream. Staying in the hoping stage will kill your dream. Hope has a short life span because it has to work so hard for us. It uses so much energy it must return to the shelf to rejuvenate it's sparkle. It wants to be ready for the next journey.

Hope when you need it. Treat it well and let it rest while you become strong. Be hopeful. Be grateful for your hope ... and move on.