Have Hope / Give Hope

 Have Hope / Give Hope

Do you have hope? Does it bubble up in your heart? How are your dreams? They are first cousins to hope, you know.

Some word pundits say, 'Hope is not a strategy'. However, I wouldn't want to go through life without hope.

Remember this:

Man can live ...

Forty days without food

Three days without water

Eight minutes without air

Only one second without hope.

(Unknown)

If this quote is true, and I believe it is, then I don't want to live one second without hope.

Hope whispers of what might be. Hope offers the seed of a promise in waiting, perhaps.

This quote by Mr. Emerson is significant. Talk about hope. It is the essence of which we speak.

"Our chief want is someone

who will inspire us to be

what we know we could be."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

How about that? A could be in the making. I like that a lot.

We seek a savior who dispenses hope. We seek someone who will come along in our lives and say the magic words that we all long to hear. Those life-giving words of esteem and good will.

Oprah said it so well on her last televised show.

"I've talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all 30,000 had one thing in common: They all wanted validation. If I could reach through this television and sit on your sofa or sit on a stool in your kitchen right now, I would tell you that every single person you will ever meet shares that common desire. They want to know: 'Do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you?'

They all had hope. Hope that someone somewhere would recognize them as valid and worthwhile individuals. Hope that they were living a life of significance or could live a life of significance.

Oprah goes on to say. "Try it with your spouse. Try it with your kids. Try it with those with whom you are in a relationship. Validate them. 'I see you. I hear you. And what you say matters to me.'"

That action alone gives a person hope. Great hope.
I remember a story Dale Carnegie wrote in his book "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

One day he walked by a man standing outside his office building. The gentleman was holding a sign begging for a handout of any kind.

Rather than give the man money, Mr. Carnegie looked him over and finally commented, “My goodness. You surely have tied your shoelaces nice and neat."

Mr. Carnegie thought no more of that incident.

The next morning Mr. Carnegie's secretary announced that a gentleman was there to see him. Dale showed the gentleman into his office, who was dressed in his Sunday best, wearing a fresh shirt and tie and shined shoes. And his hair was neatly combed and his face cleanly shaved.

The man began. "Perhaps you don't remember me but yesterday I was standing outside your office building begging for money. You walked by, looked me over, and then commented on how nicely my shoelaces were tied. You wouldn't have known this, but I had already decided that I was going to go and throw myself into the river unless I got some kind of sign that somebody somewhere might still care about me."

He continued.

"Your words gave me hope. I reasoned that if I could do that one thing of tying my shoelaces neatly then perhaps, I could still find other things I could do with success. I decided then and there that I would clean up and make something useful of myself. You gave me hope in those few words, Mr. Carnegie. Thank you."

I think Dr. Seuss might be onto something with this memorable quote.

"A person's a person,

no matter how small."

~Dr. Seuss

~Every person should have
  a chance to have hope.
        ~Every person has worth.
                ~Every person needs
                  some kind of recognition
                  that they exist.

I want to be a dispenser of hope. How about you?

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration