Day 117 ~ Cultivating Hope

I have been off of antidepressants for 2 months now. It hasn’t been easy. I am noticing more and more how important hope is for me, like a magic fuel that keeps me going. I am studying hope like a subject in school: noticing what it takes to keep my reservoirs of hope full. If they get too low, it’s almost impossible to do those things that cultivate more hope within me.

So, what IS hope anyway?

I think of it as a deep knowing that everything will be ok, especially when there’s lots of evidence to the contrary.

Here’s the dictionary definition of hope :

1. To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment.

2. Archaic To have confidence; trust.

v.tr.

1. To look forward to with confidence or expectation: We hope that our children will be successful.

2. To expect and desire. See Synonyms at expect.

n.

1. A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment.

2. Something that is hoped for or desired: Success is our hope.

3. One that is a source of or reason for hope: the team's only hope for victory.

4. often Hope Christianity The theological virtue defined as the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help.

5. Archaic Trust; confidence.

For today’s butterfly, it’s more about the background than the butterfly. I wrote in the flowers different activities that help me to fill up on hope. It’s a fridge poster to remind me of things I can do when my hope gets low.

How about you? What fills your hope tanks?