Hope and inspiration
The New Year parties are long finished and many people made resolutions which are going strong, while others have fallen by the wayside. Neither is right or wrong, good or bad. Life is a day to day experience and things change. I’m not good at resolutions for the New Year as I look at life a little differently. One of the considerations when deciding to make a change is what drives the decision? There always seems to be a little “hope” involved. What is hope? The noun of hope is: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. The verb of hope is: want something to happen or be the case.So, it starts by wanting something that is not happening. What triggers something in our lives to want change? The list can be long and complex or an exact idea of what a person needs to do. Let me explain something that happened last year. I was at a nutrition health conference in London. It was a wonderful conference with excellent speakers and the subjects surrounding nutrition were very informative. One of the speakers started to talk about how much information is out there in the world of Google, books, the web and how some information is excellent and some literature (books he named) were wacky and should be disregarded. I sat and thought about this comment for quite some time. I did not think some of the books that were described as wacky were harmful in any way.
During the conference, I had an opportunity to speak with this person and conveyed my idea that describing information as wacky is a bit harsh and, yes, I agreed that some information may not have the substance which many would feel was appropriate. I said that in some instances even if a book had some rather unusual descriptions of being healthy it may be the starting point for that person and give them hope on their quest for better health. Therefore, they may investigate more options for healing. Everyone requires a starting point. The next comment from this person was, “Hope cannot be measured scientifically and therefore that is not taken into consideration for a person’s health or discussion”. I absolutely understand where this person was coming from. When you have a clear scientific mind, working outside the confines of data is difficult. I write this article for you to see whether hope can be a starting point. I wear the scientific hat and wear the hat for hope. When one has hope with intention for something greater, an opening is made for something to show up. People, jobs, changes in accommodation, a stranger, a partner. I’m not saying it’s a magic wand, but there are occasions when we just cannot explain what caused the changes to happen. When people change, they give others hope and show how much love they have for their new lease on life, or their new direction. Let’s just say that this new lease of life, which they now love, shows them a greater purpose for themselves and may even become the inspiration that the person is looking for.
What would that look like in everyone’s life? We have all heard the line, “When strange things happen”. I’m not so sure some things that happen in life are that strange. We can make choices to bring out the best in us or the worst in us and that will have consequences for things that take place from that point onwards. With a little hope not only for ourselves but for others, who knows where it will lead.“ The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt One more item to share is how the connection of yoga can change your mood or outlook. I’m not actually talking about a yoga class, I’m talking about a conversation I had with a stranger. I was at my yearly physical, just having a checkup and mentioned that I was looking to get back into yoga as I had recently moved. The medical practitioner who I was dealing with started to get very excited and then explained how they were going to the best yoga teacher, that they had been going for years and they could highly recommend them. Their face lit up and they had such a huge smile. Just as I was about to leave the practitioner, they gave me a card which was for a free yoga class at this particular studio.
I was most grateful and left with a smile and a sense of gratitude along with how I had said to myself, “I hope I find a good yoga class”. This is not a flippant or wishful thought. It’s not something that happens every day. Not everything you hope for is going to materialise, what I am saying is take these moments and continue to be of service and be positive. You do not know whose life you will change. Every action like this has a positive effect on our health. What someone does for you and what you can do for someone else. The poet Emily Dickinson wrote this poem describing hope as a bird. “Hope is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all – And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – And sore must be the storm – That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm – I’ve heard it in the chillest land – And on the strangest Sea – Yet – never – in Extremity, It asked a crumb – of me May your days be filled with health and happiness
