Dear Ones –
I'm back on the Oprah's The Life You Want Tour…just touched down in Houston, and ready for another wonderful weekend.
I'm looking forward to seeing all these great speakers in action again, which reminded me of this quote from Rob Bell, which moves me every time I hear him say it.
The etymology of the word "despair" is "to be without hope" (From the Latin. De = without. sperare = to hope. Curiously enough, this thread of simple investigation led me to another word, which I've never heard before — the adjective "sperate", which means, "having some likelihood of recovery"…which seems like a really important word to know.)
The scariest feeling I've ever experienced in my life was the sense, during my period of deepest depression, that this might not end. My fear was that this was not a phase, but a new reality — forever. I feared that I might look back years later and see that there had been a moment in my life when I fell off the sidewalk, landed in the gutter, and never really made it back up to my feet again. That fear for my future was worse, even, than the reality of my present.
How did I ultimately get out of that? Well, I wrote a whole book about it, actually…which I shall not repeat here, in deference to the limitations of time and space.
🙂
But I wonder if today some of you might be kind and generous enough to share some words on how you have recovered hope in your lives after periods of ongoing despair?
I know there are people reading this page who are in despair right now.
I also know that there are people reading this page who were once in despair themselves, and who somehow moved out of it.
Might you be good-hearted enough to give some hints as to how you made it through?
Specifically: How did you go about making sure that all your tomorrows would not look forever like your very worst days?
ONWARD, in the hope and faith that all souls will be sperate…
LG
