Overcome Obstacles: 3 Things To Do To Fire Up Your Hope

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• Tags: Action, expectations, giving, hope, obstacles, positive, vision

Do you have an expectant and hopeful vision for the future?

Many people need to overcome some difficult obstacles in their lives right now.  There are people all over the place that are struggling. 

Some are unemployed, some have health issues, some are having marriage difficulties and some are financially strapped.  Whatever your situation, hope is the cure.

Hope is the fuel we need to make good things happen in our life.  Hope is what drives us and pushes us toward something better.  Hope is…well, our only hope.

Where there is no vision, the people perish ~ Proverbs 29:18

We must stoke the fire of hope deep in ourselves if we want to overcome obstacles in our life and return to days of sunshine and happiness!

3 things to do if you are struggling with hope

Last night, I attended Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall for Hope.  It was an exciting and powerful event dealing with the fear many have about our current economic situation.

Dave said that many of us are filled with the Spirit of Eeyore!  You remember Eeyore, don’t you!?!  He was the donkey on Winnie the Pooh that was always going around moaning things like, “Oh, poor me.  Nothing is ever going to get better.  Why should I even try?”

We must cast out the Spirit of Eeyore and I’m about to tell you how to do it!

Dave closed by offering three things to do if you are struggling with hope.  These three things are very simple.  Anyone can do them.  Yet, they are also very powerful.  They truly can restore your hope if you will just do them.

Here are the three things Dave Ramsey suggested along with some comments from me:

1.  Get up and take action

Do something!  Stop feeling sorry for yourself.  Yes, life might have dealt you a bum hand, but the only way to fix it is to do get up and get busy making it better.  Take some kind of positive action today!  Even if it doesn’t make much sense – take action!

The simplest action can start giving you back a sense of power and control.  Make a phone call, go for a walk, read an encouraging book, do some research on the Internet.  Take control of your life and start making something happen!

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey tells us that successful people are proactive.  You must take action if you want things to change.  The first step in creating change is to do something.  Get moving!  Create a little momentum.  Before long you’ll become the little train that could!

2.  Don’t participate in loser talk

Stop the pity party!  You have to start turning your thinking from negative to positive if you want better things to start happening.  Loser talk is poison that is destroying your hope.  Stop this self-defeating behavior!

Refuse to engage in anymore griping.  Instead, go out and get your self a positive audio book and listen to it.  If you are broke without a penny to your name, then go to the library and check one out!  Feed your mind hope-building encouragement and you will start to see things turn around.

You’ve got to pull yourself out of this tailspin!  Stop watching the news or participating in discussions that drag you down.  Instead, use that time to find opportunities to build yourself up.  I highly recommend going to Joel Osteen’s web site and reading the positive message of hope he has to offer.

3.  Learn to give again

This one seems counterintuitive.  You might think, “I’m down and out.  I just don’t have anything left to offer someone else.”  Well, we all have something to give.  If nothing else, we can offer someone else encouragement.  We can share a little hope with them.

Doing things for others gets our mind off our situation and worries.  It invigorates us.  Go help your neighbor work in their yard.  Donate a wad of cash to your favorite local charity.  Serve dinner at the local soup kitchen.  Give of your time, talents and treasure.

Giving is one of the best ways I know to rekindle your hope!  When you give, you will reap a harvest of hope.  You will chase away the haze that covers your life right now.  Giving will truly help you regain a positive outlook on life.

You can overcome obstacles and get your life back on track if you will simply do these three things to restore your hope!

Just do it!  Trust me on this one.  No matter how bleak your situation may seem, there are brighter days ahead if you will start today to regain your hope!  The three things above are simple, easy and there is no excuse in the world for why you can’t do them.

Do you want your life to be better?  Then get busy making it so.  No one else is going to fix what is wrong.  YOU are the one that has the most power to change your current situation for the better.  Do you believe that?  If not, then do the three things above to regain your hope in yourself.

I’ll leave you with one last thought.  Do you remember Randy Pausch and Christopher Reeve?  Few of us face more bleak circumstances than these two did, but they made the most of the time they had.  They lived with hope!  They were positive!  They inspired others and they gave of themselves to help others.  What more inspiration can you ask for?

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