Virtue

Dear Reader,

I have made a very important decision in my life and turned a very important corner. I share it with you because I think it an admirable opportunity to use this space to expand on the idea.

In the past (up to and including recently), I have focused on the injustice and difficulty of life. I vent about my irritations. I talk about my anger. I 'share' my burdens with others.
These have been a necessary part of my growth. I have reached my physical stature. However, I have not yet reached the full potential of my emotional and spiritual stature.

I think the element of my life that has hindered my reaching that stature is my ability to focus on hope.

Hope.

It's such a little word with so many misunderstood meanings. I used to tell my friends that I did not hope for a role when I auditioned for it because if I was not cast, I would not be disappointed. A few years ago, I had an epiphany in the middle of an audition I cared about very deeply. I realized that Hope is not just a blind wish. Hope is a solid part of creation. It is the beginning of realized potential. Hope was what allowed me to think I could reach for the role to begin with. As I changed my belief about this powerful element, I chose to hope in my ability to be cast in the role. I also had a profound spiritual moment where I realized that if I hoped for the role in that moment, it was as if I already possessed the role, just for that brief space of time. Without hope, I would never have the role at all. With hope, I had the role in my mind as I approached the audition.

I believe life is a great casting call and we are all auditioning for the great role of 'Living Human'. As we seek the role, we must take upon ourselves great qualities and virtues. (Did you know that in Hebrew, the word 'virtue' has base meanings that equate to the word 'power'? Awe-inspiring, that.) One of the greatest virtue that a human can possess is hope.

Don't you think hope has seen a decline in the past while?
Hope in the future.
Hope in one another.
Hope in good.
Hope in relationships.
Hope for the governing bodies of our world.
Hope in technology.

I could go on and on.

The full stature I referred to earlier is part of all of this. I realized today that I cannot fully 'grow up' emotionally or spiritually until I choose Hope. Hope is the seed of forgiveness - plant it and see the potential of another human being to change. Hope is the guide for creation - what wondrous inventions have been revealed in the past 200 years because of hopeful geniuses? Hope is the roots of faith and cornerstone of charity...

The change here on this blog is that I will focus on hope. Journals I have a-plenty. A place to inspire others? Rare. (Don't worry, tips and teaching helps aren't going anywhere, they help inspire others to hope, too!)

Here is what you can do to help spread the message of Hope: send me your stories of hope. I will post my own. I will collect them as I see them across my small sphere of life. I promise that whatever I post will be researched well or witnessed first-hand to ensure as much truth and accuracy as possible. I ask anyone submitting a story to do the same. I'm not looking for miraculous things per se, just the every day observations that give us all Hope.
I also ask you to help in passing this along to other readers and people who would submit things. I'd like this to be the greatest collection of Hope on the internet.

I chose the name of this site because I liked the idea of being clever and helpful. I believe this is the best way for me to do so.

With Hope,
Kate