1999-2019: Celebrating 20 Years of Ripples
Ripples #1059: Look Forward!
Sep 9, 2019
PEBBLE
No matter how dark things seem to be, or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities – always see them, for they are always there.
-Nelson Jimenez, Milford, CT, shared by Al in Marinette, WI
BOULDER
The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.
—Barack Obama, shared by Ellisa in Shepherdstown, WV
For a star to be born, there is one thing that must happen: a gaseous nebula must collapse. So collapse. Crumble. This is not your destruction. This is your birth. -n.t. (via Tumblr)
Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there’s no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.
—Laini Taylor, shared by Ellisa in Shepherdstown, WV
There’s always another level up. There’s always another ascension. More grace, more light, more generosity, more compassion, more to shed, more to grow. -E Gilbert
PONDER
During the last few weeks, we’ve explored the triad of letting go, holding on, and looking forward that I’ve found helpful in times of challenge and change. We wrap up this trilogy with a solid dose of hope.
Looking forward is about cultivating our capacity for optimism: visualizing the sunshine while the rain is pouring; recognizing the progress made during even the tiniest of baby steps; and finding the reasons to stay hopeful even when things appear bleak.
Our ability to build up reserves of hope helps determine how resilient we are when inevitable hardships arise, and also how persistent we can be in pursuit of long term success despite setbacks and detours.
It is important to note that looking forward with a hopeful resolve isn’t about pretending things are all peachy keen when we know that isn’t true, and it isn’t about ignoring the unpleasantness that might lie ahead. Instead, it is tapping into the self-fulfilling prophesy that hopeful attitudes help deliver positive outcomes.
Peace,
Paul
The Ripples Guy
