Hope

Emilie
written by: Esther Pruitt

Why do people hope?
Why do people trust such a fragile
unsteady thought?
A thought of some place good.
A try with no fail.
A world without suffering.
A sky without cloud.
A breeze without chill.
A life with no death.
These things seem distant to us,
they become part of our imagination
Twisted with earthly desires
Extinguished by the bitterness of reality.
Hope is strong, but it is also weak.
When hope is what we rely on for the sake of our own lives
When the only thing we can cling to is the promise for tomorrow
That is when hope is our strength
When we need it most, it is our security
But hope, when twisted, is weak.
Hope is meant to be pure.
Purity, combined with earthly desire and expectation, will crumble.
The reason hope is seen as foolish is because we make it foolish
We hope for things that are not always part of the plan
We hope for the health of loved ones
Who soon then pass
We hope for peace
When conflict in our nature
We hope for strength
When we dare not confront fear
We hope because we must.
We hope because it is the only thing that we will trust and trust again.
The only thing that will fail and fail again.
But nevertheless we will always have it.
Hope is not a goal
Hope is not the outcome
Hope is how we get there

Empower

Love these strong words from Melody Beattie. Happy Sunday!

Trash Bags

We all have a story.

So I am not sure if it is the gift you get when you enter the 5^th decade of life or what you finally figure out by talking to a lot of people honestly about their lives. But, one thing I know for sure is that every single person has a story. Some people don’t really want to share their story. Some people do not even realize that what they do each day of the year is writing their story and others are blissfully aware and want to make it a damn good one.

But, last week I will tell you was one of those weeks that my husband and I wrote a chapter of our story that had one heck of a punch. I believe it is going to take a few weeks or months to actually recover but, in the end it is just our story. The popular and true statement of “live in the moment” and “live in today” has so much great wisdom. And, whether we like it or not, a piece of today does carry us into tomorrow. What we do today is that one page that leads to the next chapter.

But, in truth, each day matters and what we do sets us up for the next day. In my heart, I want my story to be a really good story. I want there to be a happy ending. I want all the good guys to win. Back to the decade that starts with the big 5. By the time you hit this one you know your story is sometimes not the one you would have written and the only thing you can do is choose how you own it. So, when Saturday came around and I was running to hop in the car to go see my daughter’s dance performance, my eye caught this box of trash bags. And, it made me smile. It made me smile because the word Extra Strong felt really good. Sometimes owning our story is finding something that you can identify with. 

The fact that putting words to our stories no matter how horrible, wrong, painful and tragic they are is part of how we understand them and translate them from our hearts; this is maybe the most powerful piece of healing. And yesterday this box of Hefty, EXTRA STRONG, Extra Large, multi-purpose trash bags really did that for me. 30 Gallons is what they can hold! Well, here is what I have in common with those trash bags.  I think I filled one up last week. And the best part about 30 gallons of life is that there is the drawstring. Okay, these must have been the expensive trash bags and let me tell you it is the drawstring that makes life livable. I am going to take that drawstring and tie up that bag. It is going to represent last week.  

It is going to have closure and boundaries and be done. The beautiful part is I have a new week to start tomorrow. And it is going to be a good week. It is going to be a new chapter in my story. I get to open up a new trash bag. Maybe this one won’t have to be EXTRA STRONG, maybe this one will be just a simple trash bag. Maybe the one you put in the kitchen trash can. Oh yes, that is the one the Tall Kitchen, Texas Tough. That sounds so nice. They are white, just the right feeling of light. The clouds will be my focus this week. Light, fluffy and floating in the sky. This week will be a chapter of something a little more relaxing.

And then, maybe the next week I can go straight to the easy open tabs and it will be a snack bag week.

Go for it!!! Write your story. Don’t get stuck in the Heavy Duty Trash Bags of it all, remember life is filled with a variety of bags to fill your chapters. Go out and make it a new one!!!

Keep on making your story great. You can do it!