Thursday, January 08, 2009



"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Winston Churchill

I don't have to tell you, these are difficult times. Just found out another loved one lost her job. Her age, health and agoraphobia would make finding a new one difficult under any circumstances, but under these, it feels impossible to her.

You can't turn on the news without being assaulted by all the atrocities/disasters/doom and gloom.

And it's all real.

And as I look out my window and watch it rain for what feels like the 40th day and night, listen to the radio to hear there's so much flooding, major freeways in our area are being closed, I can't help but wonder if my grandmother's warnings of the Second Coming are being brought to fruition.

War, famine, flooding, fires, it's all straight out of the Bible.

It's scary.

How do any of us maintain our hope, our optimism, our faith in better things/times to come?

I don't know how "any" of us do it, I only know that for me, fear begets fear, and hope begets hope.

And so I hope.



* Photo from www.kaushik.net

10 comments:

Jerri said...

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Hope asks nothing of us but to hope.

Jerri said...

Um...that's Emily Dickinson, of course.

Angie Ledbetter said...

Ditto me. It's all about what we CHOOSE to focus on. Gratitude, joy, beauty and all their lovely friends are a choice we make to see.

Wanda said...

Interesting. I have had this thought running through my head today and just wrote it down so I can come back to it some day to flesh it out:

I am a pessimistic, idealistic, realist.

I hold onto the promise...you know, like the rainbow.

Michelle O'Neil said...

Hope beats the alternative. Every time.

Love to your friend. Light always comes after the darkness. Always.

Deb Shucka said...

Hoping together seems to help.

Nancy said...

Yesterday I was feeling the weight of the world, mine and everyone's; feeling overwhelmed and as I drove home, the sky turned pink & blue and flooded me with a feeling that took a moment for me to name. Then it came. The name was LOVE and it was written in a pink and blue sky...full of promise. Hold onto hope no matter what.

Lola said...

I'm here, hoping with you.
xoLo

contemporary themes said...

So, my grandmother and yours are conversing today, I'm sure!

Oh my hell of god!

They may just be the same woman!

And yes, the fear is strong, palpable right now!


Whew! We must MARRY OURSELVES TO HOPE EVERY DAMN DAY!

LOVE YOU!

Amber said...

I really hear you. I have been struggling to keep my face to the sun, lately.

But. What is there to do? Besides choose hope? Get quiet, and hold on.

:)