Does each new day begin for you with hope and promise?

Daytime! You wake up in the morning and the first thing you think is “It’s daytime, I have a lot of things I want to do today.” Or perhaps you think “Another day, I wish I did not have to go to work.” For some of us, daytime is exciting and energizing. For others, we just want to turn the alarm off and go back to sleep. I prefer to think that daytime marks the start of a new day with new challenges and opportunities. It is a chance to realize my hopes and dreams. I know that for some, daytime brings fears and maybe even more pain and dread. It may be the continuation of a bad dream that they do not know how to get out of or a bad story that started the day before and does not seem to end.

Perhaps our difference in perspective lies in the element of Hope. Hope is a gift that “gives vision to the mind, strength to the will, courage to the heart, and endurance to the body.” (My Daily Bread, by Anthony J. Paone, 1954, Confraternity of the Holy Blood) With hope, we can look forward to the possibility that we can change, our lives can change, others can change and the world can change. Hope is the belief that things can be better today than they were yesterday. It is the belief that we can make a difference in the world. Hope means that I can change my dreams into reality. It is never too late to start to hope. Hope will carry you through the times when life seems hopeless.

What does daytime mean to you? What role does hope play in your daily life? When you wake up in the morning, how do you feel about starting a new day? Is it exciting and energizing or fearful and painful? Do you believe that you can and will make a difference today? What would it take to put you into the category of people who greet each day with excitement and enthusiasm? Are you happy to continue with your present outlook on life or do you want to get more out of life? How can you start? Where can you look? Who could help you in your journey? How can you find more hope in your life? What or whom could help you to renew the hope that you may have lost?