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This is not a time for us to panic. That’s what the media is for.
Nor is it a time for blind optimism, either. That’s what Instagram is for.
Somewhere in between is where normal people live. For folks like you and me, it’s a time for tough-love because it does no good to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves. Folks need a kick in the butt, and to be reminded that the world needs more than a fantasy ending right now.
In other words, we need hope. That word may seem a bit quaint and old-fashioned, but it’s time to dust it off and roll it out of the closet. Hope requires a good plan, a great attitude, and an even better vision for the future.
2020 has been a hard year on almost every level. We learned we are a hardier bunch than we imagined ourselves to be, yet I suspect most of what we learn will be internal, deep within us. While the ground on which we stood shifted beneath us, we instinctively looked deeper within ourselves to find the hope we need to move forward.
Hope has become a necessity. It’s the emotional engine we need to engage with life, with each other, with ourselves. Hope is fertile and full of possibilities. To be clear, it’s not the same as optimism which can easily spill over into daydreaming and wishful thinking. Hope is a…
