The New Start Powered by Hope
We could all use a new start now and then. For one reason or another – a stall, a stop, or a wreck – we need to wipe the slate clean and start again. One of the many superpowers of hope is its ability to remind us we have a new beginning just waiting to be claimed.
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The day after the tornado, we hiked back in through all the down trees to see what we could see. Driving in wasn’t an option. The creek had flooded the road, and power lines were still down. If we wanted to see, we had to retrace our steps through the woods.
As soon as I stepped into our field, I felt the gut-punch. The massive water oak that had served as a backdrop for portraits and a protective barrier for my father-in-law for so many years now lay on its side. It had fallen into the row garden where the iris and daylilies had been hiding for the winter, waiting to strut their stuff with the warmer weather.
I took a breath and pushed on.
We walked around the tree and saw nothing but blue skies. I almost cried again. Blue skies are amazing, but not when you are expecting a canopy of freshly clothed limbs. The tornado had uprooted or torn down every tree within a few acres. You couldn’t even see our house anymore (or our cars).
Quiet followed us home that day. What could you say about it, really? After dinner, my husband and I came to the same agreement. “This is an opportunity for a clean slate.”
Every thought and idea we had before the tornadoes would be set aside. Instead, we would be open to a new start, new ideas, and a new beginning. A moment of destruction led to new possibility thinking because hope led the way.
Hope Reminds of the New Start
- Hope lights the way. Even when we don’t have a thought of the next step, hope lights the way. When we see the hope, we see the step, and then we know the step is there.
- Hope wipes the past. Maybe it doesn’t wipe it clean, but it wipes away the stickiness that allows the past to hold us back.
- Hope declares now. You still know that things aren’t right, but you also know that you can make things righter starting now.
We all fall down. It’s what happens next that matters the most.
Many years ago, on a beautiful Christmas Eve, the boy I had been watching through the service walked over to hug me during the passing of the peace. He even kept his arm around me as we walked out of the church.
Snow had started falling while we were in the service, and we stepped out of the door into the fresh covering of white.
This is where I need to tell you that the church had brick steps, and I had on slick shoes.
When I took the first step, both of my feet flew out from under me and threw me down the flight of stairs. I fell on my face eight steps below.
I considered for a moment that if I rolled under the shrubs lining the sidewalk, nobody would notice what happened.
In the end, I got up.
We all fall. Get back up. Let hope remind you that there is a new start.
For the record, the guy that watched me fall on my face married me years later, and we are still falling and getting back up together today!
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Define Your Uniqueness to Embrace Your New Start
If you want to harness your why and control the direction of your journey you will have to step out of where you are in the moment. The only way to go anywhere is to move from here. Click below to learn more or to get started today.
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Quote of the Day
We need to be actively invested in possibility thinkers if we are going to live possibility lives. – Kathryn Lang
More #GrowingHOPE
Did you miss yesterdays’s Growing HOPE?
11-23-2020 Power of Hope Fuels Ability to Believe
Or click the link at the bottom of the page to listen to the Podcast Compilation of #GrowingHOPE
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