Real hope doesn’t show up without real fear. Most of the time, hope is scary.
But the old saying is true, hope is the only thing stronger than fear.
Hope and fear are playing in a constant game of tug-of-war. And all of us live somewhere on the rope. It’s tempting to think that the closer we get to the hope side, the less we’ll be afraid.
But everyone knows that when one side starts to win in tug-of-war, the other side just pulls harder. For those of us willing to see, life is never just one thing.
Ongoing childhood abuse is an act of betrayal, and in many cases, children are threatened not to tell anyone about what is happening. Living in an abusive home is often a hopeless, joyless existence…So finding hope after can feel like an extremely daunting task.
I you think about it, hope is fear’s antithesis. In a way, hope is the reality we wish to see in the future, and fear is its shadow.
Fear simply represents what could go wrong. Our inability to see—let alone control—our futures makes us anxious that the shadow will overtake the well-lit dream.
The difficult part is overcoming that shadow with courage and hope. It’s something I struggle with everyday. It’s something with which we all struggle.
Fear is the prompt. Hope is the way. Fear is about trying to survive something. Hope is about knowing why you want to.
B🤍