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Day 18 – Making Hope a Priority!

What will you do to celebrate you this weekend?

“Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; let fortune’s bubbles rise and fall; who sows a field, or trains a flower, or plants a tree, is more than all.”

–John Greenleaf Whittier
So many of us find, or make sure we take, the time to do things for others, but we so often neglect ourselves. We “say” things to ourselves we would never say to others. We push ourselves in ways we wouldn’t push others and we take ourselves for granted.
But you have the power to STOP right now and begin to do things differently. Even just five minutes a day can get the ball rolling!
What will you do to celebrate the wonder of you this weekend?

Day 17 – Making Hope a Priority!

What do you do to positively impact your feelings?

Sometimes feelings have a bad reputation, like change. People sometimes feel a victim of their feelings and view them as they do the weather. They come, they go, sometimes they are bright, sometimes not. But feelings can be powerful fuel!

You can actively create feelings rather than only responding to them! The Procovery Note™ below, from page 158 of The Power of Procovery in Healing, talks about this:

Create moods. Start your own running list of mood enhancers – specific books, movies, music, people, places, hobbies or specific actions, such as exercising, straightening up your place, wearing your favorite hat or scarf or helping someone else.

“What is changed by my feelings is not what is out there but what I think I and others may be able to do about them.”

–John Holt

What will you do today to create feelings rather than only respond to them?

Day 16 – Making Hope a Priority!

Where do the light and energy go sometimes? On the hard days, during the difficult times?

The light and energy are still here. They are always here, but so is the darkness. Some days we are more in tune with energy and life and possibilities than other days and we have or find or make more time to view and appreciate what is right with the world. Other days we may be drowning in day to day responsibilities and realities and be in more of a gray or dark place.

Even if you don’t feel physically as though you can do something – maybe you can do something in your thoughts or in your dreams. Can you THINK of a time when things will be better and take a moment to visualize and feel and appreciate what that will feel like?

The secret is not to feel guilty that you are down or guilty that you are joyful. The secret is to understand where you are, and in what direction you want to move, and then do something – anything – to move in that direction.


“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”

–Norman Vincent Peale

Day 15 – Making Hope a Priority!

What would look different in your life if you had more hope?

How would you feel if you had more hope?

How would today feel different?

What would you do differently?

Would you go about the day, doing all of the same things but with more spring in your step? Or would you laugh more and feel more joy?

Would you go to bed earlier (to refuel for another promising day), would you accomplish more, spend more time doing what matters, spend more time with people you love, spend less time attempting to escape negative moods and feelings, take more chances, try harder, dream bigger?

If you can really get in touch with what would be different, you might take action to make it all happen.

What would be different, and what will you do?

Day 14 – Making Hope a Priority!

What is your why for the day?

“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.”

– Friedrich Nietzsche

We are reminded with the above quote that once we can identify our why for the day, that hope can spring forth instantly… If we have a project we’re working on that is building momentum, or we know we may get to connect with a friend or maybe we’re halfway through a book we’re reading that is intriguing or inspiring to us… these things can unbound the energy within to get through all the things we MUST do, to get to the things we want to do with a hopeful attitude propelling us forward.

Allow Hope to Wash Over You!


Allow hope to wash over you today… Let’s all take a moment to soak it in and allow for the feeling of hope to absorb and radiate. Today is a hopeful day. And today we can lay the foundation for a hopeful, productive and inspiring week–
“The only recognizable feature of hope is action!”
–Grace Paley

Laughter is Contagious!


“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”
 –Victor Borge
Laughter makes us feel good. Laughter is contagious. Let’s let it in today… even for just a moment.
 Dr. Bernie Siegel notes in Love, Medicine and Miracles, “There are sound, scientific reasons why we call robust unrestrained laughter ‘hearty.” It produces complete, relaxed action of the diaphragm, exercising the lungs, increasing the blood’s oxygen level, and gently toning the entire cardiovascular system. Norman Cousins termed it ‘internal jogging,’ and others have likened it to a deep massage.”
What makes you laugh? Maybe a partner, friend, co-worker, child or pet? Maybe a stand up comedy show or a favorite memory? If we focus on what makes us laugh we will do so more and more until it becomes a frequent occurrence that lifts our moods and increases our energy and well-being.
What will you do to laugh today?

Day 13 – Making Hope a Priority!

Where is hope when we don’t feel it?

Hope is always present even if we are not currently aware of it, can’t seem to see it or even feel it. It doesn’t need to be packaged in a particular way or even be constant, necessarily, for it to make an impact. It can be just a moment, a feeling of hope, and that feeling of hope can be brought forward into our lives to draw upon and use at our disposal. We can think of hope as money in the bank – store up on hope and use as necessary! When you are feeling down, do what you need to do to remind yourself that the “down” is just one of many feelings inside of you and that hope is also still inside of you. It is the same bright, beautiful world you felt it was the last time you were feeling hopeful.

“The voyage of discovery lies not in finding new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

-Marcel Proust

Day 12 – Making Hope a Priority!

What is one thing you can often do, when it seems you really can’t do anything?

So often people feel they are not in a position to do anything for someone they love. And generally there is much they can do. One thing is to listen. If the person is verbal and wants to talk, there is real value here. It can be amazing what just talking about something can do, even talking about something that it does not seem there is anything that can be done about. We are talking about the kind of listening where you are not just waiting for the other person to stop talking so that you can say what you want to say. We are talking about real, active listening, where you are jot judging or waiting to tell the person what to do and when, but just listening.

Below is a Procovery Note from pages 161 & 162 of The Power of Procovery in Healing:

Listen. Particularly with the lessening availability of therapy, being a gentle listener can be of enormous benefit. Recognize that what may seem like an emotional overreaction may instead be a rational reaction to an overwhelming set of circumstances and resulting emotions. Productive venting of what seems like irrational feelings can lead to rational action.

“When we honestly ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain, and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is the friend who cares.”

–Henri J. M. Nouwen

Do you have a story that you would like to share, about the power of having had someone listen to you, or you listening to someone? We’d love to have you join the discussion!

Day 11 – Making Hope a Priority!

What is your intention for today?

“There is no medicine like hope
 No incentive so great
 And no tonic so powerful
As the expectation
Of something better tomorrow.”

– Orison Swett Marden

This quote reminds us to keep hope in our hearts as we expand our awareness, activities and attitudes; the power of Procovery combined with a hopeful attitude can make all the difference for a better today and an even more hopeful tomorrow.

What is your intention for today? What will you do that will make a difference– difference in your day, that of someone you love or that of someone you do not even know! Often so much of what we do doesn’t even really need to be done or won’t really matter in the big picture.  Sometimes we do things that don’t matter out of a misplaced sense of responsibility or obligation or expectation. Just think about it! You have the power, right now, today, to make a difference. What will you do? And we would like to invite you, if you would like to, to share your intention, here, with us. We are listening and would love for you to join the discussion!

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