High on Hope
Hope is more correlated with overall wellbeing than happiness. It is fundamental to human flourishing.
Have Hope.
Hope and the belief that you have agency to work toward your goals and no matter what path you take, you can manifest whatever dream you hold in your heart
Hope that no matter how dreary the daily outlook is, you’ll always have people you love and new adventures waiting for you
Hope that one day all the hurt inside can transform you and you will will find purpose by helping others heal too
Have the kind of hope for yourself and for others that lifts you up and changes the way you view life and this world.
This weekend, I went on a walk with my children and we found a weak and broken butterfly laying on its back on the road. Its wings were shredded and torn in several places with large pieces missing. This beautiful creature had given up, believing no one was coming to help. My oldest held her finger close to the upside-down butterfly to see if there was any life left and those tiny delicate legs wrapped around her fingers. This insect had life and it now had hope. It had people in the universe that were willing to help and support it and give it a chance. He clung to her finger and rode home on his new human transport. To be honest, although rooting for a positive outcome, I was also realistic and knowing this butterfly had lost almost 30% of its wings, it was likely never going to fly again. I prepared my children that unfortunately, “Flappy” wasn’t going to make it.
This was my first mistake, I let go of my hope to try and soften the hurt that may have been coming. Despite my gloomy predictions, my children still believed that there could be a miracle. I decided to help them because every creature and every life deserves a chance and at the very least, love. We cut flowers, shrubs, plants, and gathered sticks. We lined our makeshift habitat with cotton balls soaked in nectar and water. My oldest child righted “Flappy” every time he fell over, talked to him, told him he was safe and to trust we were here to help. Several hours later, he was trying to traverse very short distances but was mostly falling as he was ungracefully trying to navigate with his new tattered wings and was still unable to fly
The next morning, “Flappy” was still with us, but we knew we needed to let him go. We planned to leave him with food and shelter next to our butterfly bush to see if he could still live out his days happy and outside as nature intended. The picture you see was him still clinging to my child who nursed him back to health. She had held him for hours that morning, with him sitting on her shoulder and clinging to her shirt. Like anyone else, I assumed he had no choice but to stay with her as he couldn’t fly. However, when she said goodbye and went to place him in the bush, he began flapping his wings, and then he just flew. He somehow flew away, with his broken wings and mended heart. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Never give up hope. Always help others that are in need.
A young boy and his grandfather were walking down the beach. A big storm had come in the day before and there were hundreds and hundreds of sand dollars washed up and starting to die in the sun.
As they walked, the grandfather would stop from time to time, reach down, pick up a sand dollar and throw it into the ocean. Finally, the little boy asked, “Grandfather, why are you throwing them back in?” and his grandfather replied, “So that they will live.” The little boy thought for a minute and said, “But grandfather, there are so many of them! What possible difference can it make?” And the grandfather, reaching down and tossing another one back into the ocean, said, “To that one, it will make all of the difference in the world.”