when you dig yourself out of the hole, only to step into another, bigger one? When you feel that one more failure, one more loss, one more door slammed in your face will break you?
My advice to you is to CRUNCH THE NUMBERS! After all, your success rate for surviving loss, triumphing over failure and changing your luck is 100% You're here reading this blog post, so you made it through tough times intact--changed, of course, possibly scarred, but a survivor, nonetheless.
And knowing this, HOPE will see you through the next time, and the next, because you're building strength every time you survive a setback and you keep HOPE in your heart.
HOPE is the theme of my project today. More specifically, my project was inspired by a verse from Emily Dickinson's poem, "Hope Is the Thing with Feathers."
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all …
When we first married, my husband and I wanted a big family. We teased each other about how many daughters (a Girl Scout troop's worth) or sons (a football team's worth) we'd have. I kept my Nancy Drew book collection and started collecting Hardy Boys mysteries for our future readers.
After our son was born, I never went back to taking birth control. We thrived as proud parents, but were disappointed as months and then years went by and I never got pregnant again.
We had given up HOPE that it would ever come about, so much so that I sold all my baby furniture, clothes and blankets. But even if your logical brain gives up, there is a tiny seed of HOPE still lingering in your heart, singing softly in your sleep. It wasn't until ten years later when I lost my dad that I discovered I was pregnant again. I got my football player and my Girl Scout and we couldn't be happier.
HOPE is the reason we wake every morning, and it is the reason we dream at night. Here's my own bit of poetry to add to this challenge:
The door slammed loudly.
I climbed through a window,
Never losing hope.
-Pat Martin, 2013
Hope happens to be this month's theme over at The Path of Positivity Challenge blog. Got a story of HOPE, or a piece of artwork, a card or a canvas, that embodies the idea of HOPE? Please share it, if not for the challenge, then for inspiration for others.
Need more inspiring stories of HOPE yourself? Try reading the stories at GIVESMEHOPE.COM
They always make me feel good!
Whatever you do, remember to hold onto HOPE and keep crafting!!
Whatever you do, remember to hold onto HOPE and keep crafting!!
6 comments:
Pat this is so inspirational and gives hope a wonderful new meaning.
Hugs Desíre {Doing Life}
What a great message, Pat! Just what I needed to hear this morning. Thank you!
Back with my DT hat on:
This is a wonderful mixed media with such inspirational wording. This is so perfect for our HOPE theme this month. Thanks for sharing your talent with us and good luck.
Hugs
Desíre
{Path of Positivity DT Member}
{Doing Life – my personal blog}
PERFECT - I love your creation and that super sentiment but also I found your Post delightful and totally inspiring. I am so glad you got your awesome children :-D
Thank you for playing at Path Of Positivity Challenge HOPE
IKE
PoP DT Member
Hello Pat, I love your art and the story behind it! I am a new follower! Hugs Julie xox
I always look forward to coming over here and reading your posts as much as I look forward to your art.
While it can sometimes be very difficult to keep hope alive, it is necessary for our survival, for without hope we have nothing. Even when hope for a particular outcome doesn't come to pass, we must latch our hope onto a different avenue. We were very similar in out desire to have a household of children. Unfortunately, in my case I wasn't as lucky. Throughout my life, other hopes have been crushed and I ended in a very dark place for awhile. It really was a glimmer of hope for new possibilities along with my husband of course, that helped bring me out of that dark pit. For the last 9 years I have managed to stay on this side of the darkness and some days it is only the idea of hope that keeps me from sliding back down. Thank you for reminding me that the fact that I'm still here is shows that hope can perform miracles.
Your creation is beautiful and I just adore the little feathered bird 'perching in her soul'. Wonderful interpretation of the poem. That is actually the second time I have come across it this week and I had never heard it before so I think it is trying to tell me something.
Thank you so much for joining us again this month on the Path of Positivity. It is always nice to see your lovely creations.
May you, yourself, always be able to draw on hope when you need it!
Lisa D., Owner
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