" Hope ... "

“ .. I hope that the world stops raining

Stops turning it’s back on the young

See nobody here is blameless

I hope that we can fix all that we’ve done ... 

I hope we start seeing forever

Instead of what we can gain in a day ... 

I hope we stop taking for granted

All of the land and all of the sea

I’m taking a chance on loving

I hope that you take it with me

I just hope I’m not the only one

I just hope I’m not the only one

I just hope I’m not the only one ... “

~ Emeli Sande ~ Hope ~ 

***

Some days, it is hard to navigate hope.  Some days, it is hard to look forward to the future and believe that the best is waiting for you ... some days.

... keeping the belief 

that your higher power 

has your best interest at heart ... 

asking you 

to trust in your divine source 

for guidance ... 

Being hopeful and believing that the future can be brighter is a positive step, but the unwillingness to accept the past or present as it is and using it as an escape, isn’t.  Once you learn to accept the realities of your experiences without denying them, you can have real hope.  It’s just getting there which is the tough part ... some days.

It is a process ... relying on your faith to keep hope alive and accepting what is.  It is possible to find inner strength to support your struggle ... and intend for a encompassing recovery.  But it is just that ... an intention knowing that attachment to a certain outcome is suffering.

And when it comes to hope, it doesn’t need to be defended, it just needs to be supported.  Perhaps others call it blind faith.  Whatever it may be, it comes from within.  And some days, it is all you got ... and it is just so hard to find it.  So you do the next best thing ... express gratitude.  

Gratitude for all that is and available to you in this moment.  It may not be what you wished for, it may not be what you wanted ... but you still have a choice.  A choice to move forward and serve.  Turning life's challenges into opportunities for transformation.  But you have to dig deep, real deep.  So deep that you never thought you could.  Every single part of you has to want it.  

And it is hard ... some days.

But I am realizing that the navigating hope is really a coping mechanism ... some days are stronger, others not so much.  And those days, I appreciate the impermanence of the moment.  Precious moments of life can be lost to discouragement.  It is about re framing your thoughts and reworking your perspective.  It is about setting your intentions and putting your attention to it ... It is about staying focused, staying thankful and staying hopeful ... some days.

www.walkstrong.ca

" Don't Stop Believin' ..."

“Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard

Their shadows searching in the night

Streetlights people, living just to find emotion

Hiding, somewhere in the night.

Don't stop believin'

Hold on to the feelin'

Streetlights people”

~ Journey ~ Don’t Stop Believing ~

***

What does your spiritual journey consist of?  Do you think of it as a quick journey?  Are you all about speed so that you can avoid potential dangers that await you on your path?  Sometimes trying to feel your way in the dark and moving slowly on our spiritual journey may bring us to those very dangers we are trying to avoid.  A sage once said “Our spiritual journey may be a tightrope stretched low across the ground, designed more for tripping over than walking on.”

Outer circle of humanity ... where every one speaks their own language with the possibility of miscommunication and suffering ... characterized as acting as a machine in an action-reaction pattern with little awareness or control.  

Inner circle of humanity ... where all hearts are as one and true community and love exist ... some associate with saints, enlightened beings and prophets, all arrayed in degrees of closeness to the center ~ the ultimate truth. 

Travelling from one to the other is your spiritual journey.  From culture, media, entertainment and the hunt for wealth and security to religion, myths, legends, and heart of enlightenment.

So where are you on your spiritual journey?  A good indicator is the type of influences you are dealing with.  For example, if it is a group of people in your life, are they selfish or unselfish?  Do they invite you you to lose yourself or to awareness of yourself?  

The reality is that there is a mix of both in our lives all the time.  Therefore, trying to maintain the state of awareness from your inner circle influences as long as possible when shifting to the outer circle influences, may be a good way to balance the two.  You see, this awareness will make your experience of outer circle influences more enjoyable, as they will have a spark of vividness and life to them.

Just trust this process will happen with its own speed, but the secret key is adding the light of your understanding and awareness to it.   Imagine the pull of your core on your spiritual journey is like a current in a river, it will take you with or without your awareness.  So stand guard at the gates of your heart, and observe the impressions that pass through them.  If you believe, you will see your path brightly lit in front of you, and your core will act like a compass and always point you in the right direction.  

"To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping ..."