A Toast to Hope

A Toast to hope

I have been retired for going on two years. For the most part- 99%, they have been the best two years of my life. I worked hard since I was 12 years old and except for three years of my career, I always worked two jobs.

As retirement loomed, I fought against it. I hated the thought of starting a new career. I felt afraid that I was going to be looked upon as a obsolete piece of rusted trash. I was not ready to retire at all. Circumstances beyond my control caused me to take the big leap.

If you are still with me, you may have noticed that I have been writing in the past tense.

NEW SECTION!

I love the recreation that comes from starting anew. I love the waking and knowing that the day will be filled with experiences that I only appreciate because of the leap of faith I took when I pulled the plug on my former career as a person who colored circles with ten year olds all day.

My newfound journey has been possible because of the hope that I experience when I muse about the gifts that have been bestowed on me. The universe is indeed a wondrous place and I am a piece of the wonder. While my place may be small, I know and I believe and I am assured that it is MY place. There is no other me, ever, forever!

The fact that I am able to share my writing with those in need of hope is merely one example of this. The attitude of gratitude that coincides with the understanding that life begins when you decide to live it, further proves my point.

CR Snyder wrote a book entitled You Can Get There from Here. He chronicles people who live a hopeful life and discusses clinical attributes of hopeful people. The ability to envision a larger purpose, the power to pursue goals and generate multiple options toward goal attainment are highlighted in the book. Hope is real! Hope works to enhance experience.

I think about this relative to my recent life and realize how hope has generated great enthusiasm in all of my personal and professional encounters. The idea of starting what is becoming a successful speaking business, the ability to look at my life as just beginning rather than ending, and the acknowledgement of my childhood trauma are examples of this transformation.

Living in hope has allowed me to put the shame of divorce into a past that while interesting, was indeed a journey that I needed to walk. I once thought that being a survivor was what made me able to withstand the challenges of childhood scarcity.I have come to realize that hope is the key to me having succeeded in spite of odds stacked as high as a pyramid. I now appreciate that hope is what really matters. Hope is the glue that holds me together.

As I speak to people about my journey and my research, I find that the realization that life can be less dreadful than the news people want us to think it is, makes all the difference between sanity and the asylum.

Here’s a toast to hope! A toast to the possibility that tomorrow will be at least as intriguing as today.