Hope, Always

Hope is the thing with feathers - imago2007

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
(Emily Dickinson)

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don't give up.
(Anne Lamott)

Hope doesn't come from calculating whether the good news is winning out over the bad. It's simply a choice to take action.
(Anna Lappe, O Magazine, June 2003)

Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. [1] To hope is to wish for something with the expectation of the wish being fulfilled, a key condition in unrequited love. [2] Hopefulness is somewhat different from optimism in that hope is an emotional state, whereas optimism is a conclusion reached through a deliberate thought pattern that leads to a positive attitude.(Wikipedia)

Hope was so my thing long before Obama stole it. Okay, maybe not. All the same, it has been the belief, the feeling, the wish that has gotten me through this year so far. The year is almost done... 5 weeks until I am home to work at Mom and Dad's store for the Christmas season, and I am done the CYW program. Not much longer after that, 2008 is over. 2009 will be better, it has to be. I am still contemplating a tat to celebrate making it through. I have commitment issues I think, though, so we'll see. Either way, always, always hold on to hope.