Hope

Despair is the inaction that keeps us down, Hope is the will to create a better tomorrow.

It seems the fundamental ingredient in situations where there seems to be no answer is hope. Hope is what will someday guide you to light. Where I presently stand in my life it is very hard to imagine hope. I am plagued by an ambiguous condition that almost entirely cripples me. Nevertheless, there has been a good deal of people with this condition that make total come backs and return to their life. If I assume that I may be one of those people, then that hope can fuel progress despite my present suffering. I must admit that most mornings I wake up and am largely suicidal for the first few hours of the day. As I have been fighting this condition for the past seven months with very little change, it is hard for me to imagine progress. However, my alternative of suicide is not an option. I merely indulge it as a temporary escape mechanism when my suffering becomes too great to handle. There are a number of thoughts that I keep in mind when dealing with my pain that allow me to see purpose and meaning in my struggle. I have to agree with Viktor Frankl that when life becomes overbearing with pain - we must seek out meaning. Here is a list of some ideas that I have come up:

1) Find something of greater importance than yourself

2) Help others

3) Understand life is not purely about how you feel

4) Be thankful even for the opportunity to have lived at all