The Hope of a Child

May we all look, at such times, to the children around us to help reignite the hope of the child within ourselves.

As we grow older, it becomes clear that life is not always fair, and the tough breaks we get can seem too much to handle. The childlike optimism and hope telling us that “anything is possible” and that “things will get better because they have to” can diminish over the years, cease to encourage us and even be utterly silenced through despair.

I remember when the rains of a massive hurricane flooded my childhood home several years ago. The hopelessness and despair came rushing in as I saw material objects and memories accumulated over years washed away in a matter of hours. When the rain and tears stopped, and the ability to assess and address what had happened kicked in, I understood that in order for me to be able to move forward, I would have to join the facts of reality with the hope of my childlike faith. Not yet an adult, I tapped into the one thing that I knew could work. That thing was hope.

What hope was that, exactly? The hope that, although material things were gone, the memories were still alive. The hope that even though the damage was great, my physical and emotional body, although a little bruised, were still functioning and I could rebuild. But most importantly, as I watched the children outside playing and making a scavenger hunt out of the rubble and refusing to be defeated, I experienced a newly restored hope that life in its fullest sense was still possible – even mandatory. Life in all its beauty and fullness certainly had changed, but it was not over, or to be lived less-than.

I was once more given this lesson of hope, very recently, as my childhood home was flooded by unexpected rains, this time with a tornado. It was challenging, it was saddening, but it caused me to reignite the hope of my childhood within me. I have more experience in being a young adult now than I did a few years ago, but I still have found that the hope of a child, no matter how implausible it may seem, is my greatest tool in facing the realities and challenges of life.

Taking stock of the damage wrought by the recent floods in Serbia — and throughout the world – I know that we all face tough breaks and sometimes seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

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May we all look, at such times, to the children around us to help reignite the hope of the child within ourselves.
May all the emotional, physical, and financial resources donated from far away and from our nearest and dearest strengthen our resolve to hope and strive for recovery.
May we face our challenges and be inspired to give back. May we choose to thrive and not just survive.
May our childlike hope and faith be ignited and multiplied, everywhere we turn.

Author: Leo S.