My grandmother called me this evening. She was where she always is when she makes calls, sitting at her corded phone in her kitchen. I could hear her smile through the phone.
She is feeling hopeful. She just heard back from the Casey Eye Institute in Portland and they have scheduled her an appointment on May 20th with a new doctor. This new doctor is optimistic and specifically requests to take on Grandma as a patient.
My grandma started losing her vision at age 40 due to a combination of macular degeneration and glaucoma. She has been legally blind for decades now, but she has never lost hope. She truly believes they are on the brink of finding a cure for blindness.
I don't dampen her hopes this evening, but I do try and temper her expectations. "That's very exciting Grandma. Even if..."
"Even if? There's no even if! They're going to find a cure Jason, just watch."
I concede. Hope has won out. Now I'm feeling it too. Hope is contagious.
Every day, my grandma wakes up and sees literal darkness. Yet, her hope persists. Though we all may face darkness in our days, I pray hope persists for you as well.
Action
Make a conscious decision to hope for something good, disregarding what the "facts" may say.
Question
Who in your life needs hope right now? How can you help provide it to them?
Quote
"There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow." - Orison Swett Marden