…when I seek God’s light to illuminate my soul, I see a bright future ahead! I just need to bridge the gap with my personal mindset and action. Hope has brought me such light and lifted my heart in magnificent ways! Choosing to Hope has brought me healing, a return to happiness, and closer to the Savior in such joyful ways!
We all need a bit more Hope in our lives right now. With the daily struggle of managing life in a pandemic, soaking in words of Hope can offer deep strength and personal power. Two key factors can help us have “Hope strong” each day with our: mindset and actions.
Amidst present concerns with home, family, the world, health, economy, homeschooling, work, worries for medical workers and brave souls on the front lines, etc., life could feel pretty messy and full right now. But we can have a Hope mindset and take the actions necessary to bring more light into our days, more joy into our ways and feel rays of sunshine throughout the storms!
I’ve been journaling about Hope, gathering quotes from friends and online, which I then posted to @TheSisterhoodGarden on Instagram as helpful boosts during this crazy time. It originated for a few dear sisters in hard situations, then became a tool for personal pep-talks and has blossomed as I’ve shared with others.
In one of my posts I explored hope as: Hope looks and feels like divine light, illumination, a glimmer of joy, a ray of soul-sunshine in storms of worry, a radiance of heartfelt connection with God and others amidst uncertainty, with a brightness of optimism in mind and love in action.
Hope is both head-centered with a mindset focus and heart-centered with positive intentions. Then it is action-oriented in both small to large ways. Hope is a power deep within and unleashed in our attitude, action, affirmations and words.
What does Hope mean to you? It may vary for circumstance, change for the hour’s need, feelings, relationships or challenges. There are many ways to explore what Hope means to soothe and strengthen the soul.
“Rejoice in our confident Hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” (Romans 12:12, NLT)
MINDSET
Vision and perspective are keys to holding on to Hope. Our thoughts incubate a bright Hope, or a dim one. When we focus our thoughts and inner energy on the vision of Hope we want, we direct our energy toward that future.
We can focus on our dreams, the future we want, the end goal or our deep inner why. Amidst the dark moments that come – and they will – it’s essential to hang on to light, a glimmer, a breath of fresh air, an anchor, anything that sustains our souls. Seeking God’s grace is a good start. We do this by praying about what’s going on, really talking to God and exploring our thoughts and mindset within. We feel our feelings, then name them, and make one effort at a time. We take one internal step, one moment at a time.
Small efforts and hopeful internal work create big strength! When securing our habits for Hope (or any goal or mindset), we need to simplify our daily efforts toward the big why. What is your vision and picture of Hope? What does it look or feel like?
For me, I’ve defined goals like loving thoughts and family bonding to manifest my hope on the homefront. There have been some hard days when I feel down. I’ve had to dig deep to my inner motivation to shift my mindset and surge some change toward heartfelt improvements.
As we create our internal why, we can more easily bridge the gaps of exterior input, from the stories we tell ourselves. Our core beliefs with the cause/effect and the story we tell ourselves in creating inner meaning has a huge impact for our outer actions.
Like Hope or any goal, we need to look at the little things that add up to create our inner mindset. The details build a positive Hope or diluted internal picture. The story we tell ourselves or what we choose to believe can push us forward toward Hope or pull us down into discouragement. Whatever thoughts we cultivate and the meaning we create become the building blocks of our mindset. Cultivate the ones you want to build your goals.
Hopeful thoughts lead to feeling hopeful, which leads to hope-filled action, then hoped for results. Hope is not magic, but it does create miraculous energy and results in the mind, heart and community in which it dwells. Hope is a contagious element if we welcome it.
“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” (Christopher Reeve)
We can turn our hearts, shift our choices, align more in love to fill our minds with Hope. With a heart filled with goodness we can be more like our Savior. We can manifest Hope in the daily details. The heart thoughts, conversations, and our prayers reflect our deepest beliefs and wishes. Hope brings such peace and power when we do the thought-work for it. It is then manifest through our perspective, choices and ACTION.
“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” (Nelson Mandela)
HOPE STRONG
Hope is like spring after a long winter. Hope is believing in a brighter future even if it feels scary; trusting the sun will return after a storm. Our physical knowledge can take us only so far and eventually we need to trust God. Believing in eternal concepts while Hope bridges the gap between our reality and the righteous desires of our heart.
During these weeks of pandemic and home quarantine, it has been a bit of a roller coaster for me, with both good and hard days. We all ride the shift of human existence, it’s normal to have big feelings with change. In those low moments, I have even felt weary and exhausted with a heavy weight that makes me want to stop caring. It is then I pause, pray and choose to Hope. I could continue with my sad story (and sometimes I’ve lingered there), but when I seek God’s light to illuminate my soul, I see a bright future ahead! I just need to bridge the gap with my personal mindset and action. Hope has brought me such light and lifted my heart in magnificent ways! Choosing to Hope has brought me healing, a return to happiness, and closer to the Savior in such joyful ways!
Today amidst sorrows and uncertainty, there is Heavenly Hope! With God’s light in our hearts, there is great faith, mercy, justice, light, devotion, support, sacrifice and spiritual sustaining power. We can carry that mindset and manifest Hope in action with the daily details of our lives. With our thoughts, conversations, and prayers we reflect our deepest beliefs and wishes. These are the seeds that sprout out into action!
Next week I’ll explore the second step–ACTION– further. Be sure to check it out. Until then, have a powerful mindset and keep on keeping on, to have Hope Strong! It’s worth it.
“Now the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in Hope.” (Romans 15:13 KJV)
Invitation: This week, try to increase your Hope with a power mindset by defining positive intentions. Write down three affirmations–words you say to yourself to boost your heart and center your mind on your inner motivation. Share your affirmations with someone you trust and declare them out-loud to yourself every day to find joy. Notice how strong you feel.
Check out another article on hope here!
Updated: Click here for the second article in this series!
Join over on Instagram @TheSisterhoodGarden to read and share in more about Hope.
Photo credit: Lina Trochez on Unsplash
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