Thankful Nov. Day 16: Thankful for Hope

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I want to try and write these in the mornings but lately that hasn’t happened. I hope this doesn’t seem like I’m trying to get out of my daily writings and more importantly, my daily gratitude. I really to believe there is something to be grateful for every day.

Today, I’m grateful for hope. This was actually somewhat inspired by reading about young Miles, who was “Batkid” for a day in San Francisco and was able to save the city for some of “Gotham’s” worst criminals. I read the story and watched the video on Today.com and was nearly brought to tears, partly from the cuteness of it all, but the wonderful story behind it. I was also overcome by the number of people who participated to make this such a special day for a young man, only 5-years-old, who overcame Leukemia.

Keep Calm and Call Batkid! (Photo credit: ericwagner)

The whole thing is about this young man and his battle against cancer. Fortunately, his cancer is in remission; the real battle against evil has been done. The Make-A-Wish Foundation stepped in to help this boy achieve his dream. It’s reported that many kids want to be superheros, but this time was a bit different. The number of volunteers who stepped up to make his day extra special is also so much of what makes this story so great. More than 12,000 people signed up to help him and to really help Miles shine. This is so beyond heartwarming. He’s such a cute little guy and I’m ever so happy that he’s rid of the evil that was in his body but I’m also beaming with joy of the people who wanted to help him “celebrate.” So many people coming together for a child, the hope of a long life, that’s true beauty.

For me, I have in recent years become somewhat cynical about hope. I often refer to it as “the hope.” This, of course, refers to any time I get excited about the possibility of a guy and the potential for something to come of it. I long ago decided that because I’m silly, I get too excited too soon, etc., that “the hope” is a very bad thing for me. The let down afterward is demoralizing. In the last year, somethings happened that is somewhat reversing that idea. I do get too excited and hopeful too soon (probably stemming from being single so long and just longing for that to end eventually) for some things so that will need to stay in check, but I think that perhaps it’s okay to have hope in a more generic sense. I just need to put “the hope”, that energy, into something less specific, but definitely more productive.

Hope is what gets a person out of bed in the morning. It’s such a light, airy feeling but it brings a smile to your face. It can be easy to despair and fall into the negativity black hole, but hope is the light. It’s the rope that’s thrown down to you. Yes, the work of climbing up that rope is all yours, but without hope, there wouldn’t even be an option. You cannot live on hope alone, but to live without hope is an empty feeling. Hope helps in all aspects of life. It definitely is something I’m glad I’m rediscovering. There’s a little bit more meaning in my world; it’s a little easier to get up in the morning and to get through my day. I’m not hoping for a boyfriend, but hoping that today will be good; that today I’ll hear from one the folks I wrote a letter to; hope that my blog is seen by one more person, etc. I hope that today means there’s one less bad guy but better yet, that there’s one more good guy helping the rest of us, like Batkid. I hope that there’s one more person who believes in hope and does something positive, even if it’s something small like giving a smile to a stranger or writing a little anonymous note to someone who needs a pick-me-up.

Hope can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people at different times. I think this is best summed up by “Samwise Gamgee” of the Lord of the Rings.

Sam – I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo- What are we holding onto Sam?

Sam – That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.

So on that note, I’m leaving you all with a link to the Today.com story. I’d also recommend reading some of these other articles about Batkid.

Related articles

• Batkid Saves City (theblogofit.wordpress.com)
• wired: Make-A-Wish Foundation Turns San Francisco Into Gotham for 5-Year-Old Batkid (wired.com)

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