Hope. 

The promise that things can be better. The promise that things will be better.

Some days you hold hope and hate it. All because hope refuses to give the one thing you demand from it. A timeline for its departure. A calendar to mark off the days that pass, a red circle on the date where the grey will lift and things will feel good again. 

I hear your question: Why does hope promise better but forget to say when?

I don’t pretend to have an answer, but I do have a suggestion.

Let hope allow growth. 

You think hope is synonymous with ‘sit and wait’.  So you curl up and ache for things to become different. But how will your hope come into fruition if you stay where you’ve always been? Hope is actionable. Hope says: move, go, be. 

Start moving towards the life and the future for which you hope – a life of fulfilment and a future of peace and compassion. Invest in your faith, your friendships, your passions, your health. In doing so you’ll move away from the patterns that have, up until now, done you a disservice. In doing so you’ll grow.

As you grow, some of your hope will become satisfied, but you’ll find new things to hope for. Because this life without hope is empty. This life without hope is meaningless. Yes, hope might hurt you now but growth rarely comes without pain. You are ready for it. So grow.