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Hope Keeps You Moving Forward

I just recently had a #medical shocker about one of my #dogs, and I don't know how it will all end, but hope is the one thing that is getting me through. Hoping for a better #outcome, hoping the doctors misdiagnosed, hoping for a  miracle--the basket of hopes is helping me to withstand the #pain of not knowing and the #agony of fearing the worst.

Everyone depends on hope as a coping device. It doesn't matter if the triggering event is joyful or tragic. A few years back I wrote a story on resilience for a national publication. The #focus of the article was on an Olympic swimmer who became #paralyzed through an ATV #accident. What keeps her going each day? Hope. The hope that she may get better through sophisticated medical technology. The hope that her story can serve as an inspiration to other similarly challenged adults. The article collected every positive attribute people use as coping strategies under the heading of resilience. But I prefer to call it hope. More religious people might call it belief in God.

Whatever you call it, this strong energy that keeps people moving ahead despite #obstacles, #setbacks and hard knocks can reframe your life #situation. You can go from feeling #suicidal and #desperate to feeling in control and #optimistic about the #future.

When I was at my worst, tormented and tortured by #negative thoughts and a terrible sense of loss, I remembered what my high school biology teacher used to say: "It's always darkest before the dawn." That simple sentence crept into my toolbox of #helpful hints and stayed there permanently. Even the ironic statement that "it can always be worse," supports my attachment to #hope.

Readers of this blog have heard me say on occasion that humor heals, and I believe it. Many years ahttps://www.laughteronlineuniversity.com/norman-cousins-a-laughterpain-case-study/ago a well-known editor became painfully ill with an illness. Instead of sitting back and depending on traditional medicine, he took an avant garde approach that people are still researching. Norman Cousins, the former editor of the Saturday #Review, took mega doses of Vitamin C and played funny films 24/7. In his book Anatomy of an Illness he tells how the laughter eventually healed his degenerative illness and restored his health.

I believe Cousins was extremely #fortunate, #hopeful, #positive and had #faith in the miracles that often happen on a daily basis in this universe we call Earth.

I hope I get a #miracle for my beloved #dog. I'll continue hoping and trying until the problem is resolved one way or the other. But in the meanwhile I'll try to sneak in a few laughs about the silly things that happen to us every day, such as having your newspaper ripped off by a neighbor, finding out that you were mispronouncing the word "paradigm" for a good quarter of your life, and remembering why you married a broken spirit on this very day many years ago.

So #congratulations to me--July 3rd is my wedding anniversary. I hope this day brings all of my readers much happiness and, of course, hope.

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