Ever feel trapped as if you are watching your life deteriorate in front of your eyes and you can do nothing? Or certain difficult circumstances lead you into wishing for a new life? But that new life will never come. Or so you think; or so your negativity wants you to think. An unseen enemy is always waiting for you to give up and then he pounces on you. He sometimes pulls your strings just so he can do just that. You are then either made miserable or you commit something harmful. Depending upon what it is, it might not be as hurtful to those around you at first. But beware, misery or caving into misery always has repercussions that will eventually cause harm or maybe worse.
However there is one thing you can do to counter this trap. It is very well-known concept but not recognized for its true being. It is simply to hope. Hope is the most powerful of virtues. C.S. Lewis said that “Courage is the foundation of virtues,” but it takes a specific kind of hope to be courageous. Hope is more than wishing that tomorrow will be sunny. It is more than just implicit optimism. It is holding onto something even when everything else is pushing against it. To have hope in the most discouraging circumstances is more than being optimistic. It is being heroic. Therefore, hope is essentially courage.
