If you allow yourself . .  search and find through every struggle, during each test of willful patience and persistence, and in every trial, the counterbalancing measure of hope which can and will develop within if you only let it! We are born that way, we are designed to persist with hope and by faith. If we don’t vanquish our hope for the sake of our weary, worn-down resolve to quit, to give in, to let go, or to harden our hearts and minds.   

When something is pushing us down, our natural inclination is to push back in self-defense. We’re not naturally inclined to be quitters. Each breath of life and every heartbeat confers that spirit. In each of us is tenacity for the sake of survival, for the sake of developing life wisdom and for the sake of persevering through challenges meant for our betterment. But we all too often let what was an opportunity for growth become an opportunity for fear, doubt and negativity to take root. And in those moments, we design ourselves anew, with fear, doubt, negativity and hardness taking hold!  

Let the seed of hope which is rooted within you be the one which you nurture and feed when the going is tough! If you give hope your faithful attention rather than focusing on feeding your fears, doubts, sense of failure and negativity, you will have a full stockpile of hopeful intentions, thoughts and emotions upon which to call when you need to strengthen your resolve; to push forward and to overcome all the rest of the world! Hope lives within us all as a counterbalance for the rush of life against our living vessel. We are pushed, thrown, plunged and even emerged for what seems eternities in rough seas quite often in life. But it is only when we give way to those forces rather than developing our stick-to-it-ed-ness and willful determination, that we quit on life.  

Life is hard, often seemingly it is downright impossible, yet here we all are! Within us is a great strength and willful determination to live, to persist, to thrive and to move forward . . if we just call upon that hope from within rather than fostering what won’t help us in the end! Next time life hands you a challenge, or you are overwhelmed by some set of circumstances, consider the seedling which is pushing back within you for your very own sake. Let hope grow until it breaks through the surface with purposeful intent! Let it fill your mind, heart and spirit with willful and purposeful tenacity, strength and perseverance for the test and whatever lies ahead.