Hope.  It is such a little word with such big consequences.  It allows us to see tomorrow as another day, another chance, another chapter, another path.

We hope that things will work out, that things will get better, that things will go back to normal.  Whatever normal ever was.

As monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear.  If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”

We can bear it.  We can wait a little longer.  When we have hope.

As Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine, said, “Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.”

The courage to go along with the hope.

And dreams to set as your true north.

Even though we are on a journey that has tested us all, deep inside we still have dreams, hopes, and goals.  Our lifeline.

Author Charlotte Bronte wrote, “The human heart has hidden treasures, in secret kept, in silence sealed; The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, whose charms were broken if revealed.”

Stop and think about the treasures you have inside.  Hold out hope that they will come to fruition.  The sun will rise again, and your path will be revealed.  Just never stop walking with hope.