FILLED WITH HOPE
BE
Hope was my mom’s favorite word. By 2003, she had bravely lived with and through multiple sclerosis, quintuple heart bypass surgery and ovarian cancer and was spending her final days in hospice in her home. I remember one bright summer morning when I was taking care of her, going for a walk in her neighborhood and randomly meeting a woman mowing her lawn who had survived stage four breast and ovarian cancer. This was two and a half years later after being given a one percent chance of survival. I ran home with excitement to tell mom I had just met someone who beat the odds and her reply was “That gives me hope.” We both knew that death was imminent, yet, I realized what a gift is was for her to have and share a sense of hope with me in that moment together.
Hope changes everything because it is the little voice you hear whisper “maybe” when it seems the entire world is shouting “no.”
KNOW
I’m curious now to explore more about:
What is my relationship with hope?
What is the difference between hope and faith?
When might it be wise and/or necessary to give up hope?
If I choose to hope, what helps keep that feeling alive in the face of extreme adversity?
DO
I will select a current challenge to focus on and reflect on my answers to the KNOW questions.
Next BE-KNOW-DO Blog post: Being in Touch
