Hope itself is the sure belief that something better is coming. As simple as that definition sounds, it implies that to have hope, there must be suffering or despair to overcome. It requires the one who is suffering to make a choice between despairing in today’s pain and grief and hoping for the better day that is coming.
I heard a story the other day that offers a metaphor that truly describes hope to me:
While walking in the park, a child came upon a cocoon that obviously had a butterfly struggling to get out. The child felt sorry for the butterfly, and helped it to break free from the cocoon. As she watched the newly freed butterfly, expecting it to take flight, she noticed that its wings were not strong enough to lift itself off of the branch. You see, the butterfly’s ability to fly comes from the strength that is built during the struggle to free itself from the cocoon.
Just as it is true with the butterfly, it is also true for people: without the struggle, we cannot grow stronger. We cannot always choose the condition of our adversities, but we can choose to engage in the struggle. In doing so, we sustain hope in the knowledge that we will emerge stronger than we were when we began.
HOPE is what gives us the strength to fly.
(This post originally appeared on Beautifully Broken Me on 7/29/08)
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