more hope

In middle school English class, I learned about the concept of concrete and abstract. (I promise this isn’t a grammar lesson in a blog post.) Concrete objects are the things we can feel and touch, while abstract things are not physical objects. It’s a pretty straightforward concept, but it makes me think about how some of the greatest things can’t be put in a physical form. Hope is one of those things.

Today, I said the word hope at least a dozen times. I hoped that the clouds would clear for an afternoon full of sunshine. I hoped that I had remembered to do all of the things I had due this week. I hoped I had the words to write this blog about more hope, because I think that hope is something we are all clinging to right now.

I also heard the word hope a few times. I heard my friend say that she hopes she gets to do her internship this summer. I heard Panic at the Disco sing about high hopes in the car while I was driving. A person told me they hoped I would get to travel with FFA again soon.

Hope seems like a whimsical word that doesn’t have a whole lot of power behind. I think when we hear and speak the word hope, it doesn’t always have the greatest impact. Hope is one of those things that often can’t be given to us by someone simply through words. We can receive tons of “get well soon” cards that say “hope you feel better”, but hope itself can’t be transferred through a few words, even if those words make us feel momentarily motivated. Hope is something we have to want and feel for ourselves, because no one else can have hope for us. We are all on our own when it comes to having hope for our lives, and our ambitions.

Recently, I’ve felt like my hope has only led to disappointment. I’d hope for something to happen, and when it didn’t, I felt disappointed. After a few of these disappointments from my expectations and hope for concrete things, I shifted my hope for some of the abstract things in my life. I began to hope for positivity in the minds of others. I chose to hope that my actions and words would leave an impact on those I interacted with.

I can’t tell you that what gives me hope will give you hope, but I can tell you that there is more hope to be found in your life than you could ever realize. A lot of us don’t have many concrete things to rest our hope in right now, and we don’t have much choice in that situation. We do have a choice to let our minds focus on hope, though, rather than fear. I choose to simply hope for better, instead of fearing for the worst. Hope will give us the light to know that there is more to our lives than our current situations, and it will be the driving force that gets us through each and every day.

Have more hope for the better today.

There’s more to hope for.

There’s more to it all.