If people were asked to state the most important four lettered word, it is highly likely that they would opt for the word ‘love’. Love is universal. It does not discriminate. We are all capable of feeling love and quite often it is an emotion that drives us forward and protects us from a grave alternative. And yet I find myself toying with a four lettered word which, when placed next to the word love, may pale in comparison. The word ‘hope’.

For me, hope is a word so full of potential. It has the ability to lift our spirits and comfort us when nothing seems to be going right. Most importantly, it is a feeling that doesn’t depend on another person but instead on something less tangible and more powerful – the ability to have faith against all odds. When there is nothing else, hope keeps us going. It provides us with a strength we didn’t even know existed, and leaves with it a calm that allows us to finally breathe. For the most unfortunate of people hope can be the difference between choosing to live instead of living to die. It can provide individuals with courage and guidance when facing their lowest ebb. And for those more fortunate, hope simply reminds us to keep believing! Because when the time is right, everything will fall into place.. 

So I am hopeful. I am hopeful that one day our planet will live in peace. I am hopeful that eventually my work at the gym will pay off and my thighs will slim down. I am hopeful that love and marriage will fill that missing piece in my life. But in this very moment I am most hopeful that my cousin’s beautiful baby girl will live a long and happy life – this post is dedicated to her swift recovery 🙂