Never Give Up

The word “HOPE” means: a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen; a feeling of trust, (Definition from Oxford Languages).

The world we live in can sometimes take this quality of hope away from us. Wars in several countries with constant videos showing destroyed cities, on the news every morning, can really start our day in a miserable way. But — the news is serious and it is important to know what is going on around the world. The deaths of teenagers in this year alone from knife attacks or gun shots begs the question: is there any real hope for the younger generation? If you have a loved one or a close friend who has a terminal illness, it is particularly hard to keep that smile on your face but you do it for him or her.

It can seem that we have ‘lost the battle’ before we’ve even started!

We live on such a beautiful planet that seems so full of hope, that it is a shame that so many are ‘stricken’ with depression and hopelessness. Martin Luther King said: “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope”.

The birds sing every single morning, yes they are talking to each other, but their little sweet voices ‘cheer us up’. It’s such a natural and normal sound! The sun always rises every morning and when we do (eventually) see it, ‘we feel better’. Even after a thunderstorm, a rainbow always appears and we ‘stare’ at its exquisite colours, because the sight of a rainbow tells us that the weather is going to get better and that ‘everything is going to be alright’.

All of these are natural occurrences from the Earth which gives us the “HOPE” that we need, if only we would take a few minutes from our day, every single day, to just stop and listen and “see” the beauty of this Earth. The strength that this gives us mentally is priceless!

So, how can we, as individuals, keep “HOPE” strong in our lives?

When we look through history, mankind has overcome many, almost unbearable, problems and situations. For example, the Second World War brought us the Nazi concentration camps or the Holocaust (as many call it), which were the worst camps to ever touch our history. How could anyone live in such a terrible way and yet keep their hope inside of them?

One survivor of the Holocaust, Rabbi Hugo Gryn tells us: “ When I think about the Summer of 1945, when through a chance I cannot fathom, I was free and still in life — why, I was sure that never again would there be anti-semitism or race-hatreds of any kind — The sad truth is that tyranny and race-hatred did not end when the Second World War ended, as we then hoped and believed but the vision of peace did not die”.

Note this survivor’s words: “the vision of peace did not die”. There was and is hope.

Another survivor put it quite eloquently: “My attitude of hope and optimism helped me to overcome fear and perils and was one of the reasons why I am still alive today”, (Freddie Knoller).

This man’s “HOPE” and determination contributed to his survival.

These people ‘believed in themselves’ and in the ‘world’ that they would be rescued. They had “HOPE”!

Many of us will never go through such a terrible atrocity but we do still have our problems to deal with every day. Against the Holocaust of the Second World War, our problems seem very small but they are still very real to us as individuals. We “HOPE” that things will change and that Life will get better for us. We “keep” that hope!

Taking one day at a time helps our Mental Health. Instead of racing ahead in our minds and stressing ourselves out, and stress is so bad for the body, we take each day as it comes, knowing that tomorrow can (and very often is) a much better day.

Keeping that all important daily routine of meditation and gratitude journalling will keep “HOPE” first in our minds. Our minds control every aspect of our lives, from our thoughts to our emotions to our bodies and what we actually physically do. Reminding ourselves that there is always “HOPE”, all of the time, will keep depression away and our futures ahead of us.

We cannot always change things in our lives, but when we have that “HOPE”, we always have our hands ‘on’ our own lives.

It is amazing that by having “HOPE” our lives can literally change overnight. So, never give up and never lose hope!