I keep reading people’s updates about hope. After all the high-profile death in 2016 of the magical, whimsical elves and fairies we shared our world with for the last 40 or 50 years and culminating with the election of a man who trades in fear and recrimination as opposed to magnimity and inspiration, people were done with the just-passed year. But the human spirit is strong many are determined to enter the new year with a sense of not being beaten down, of wanting to protect and inspire and not go gently into desperation and panic. We did that and seem ready to trim things around, seemingly in spite of the leadership of the US and the direction much of the rest of the world seems to be headed in. 

Hope is a hard thing for me to muster. As I’ve said before, my upbringing and natural disposition are more geared toward assuming everything will be difficult but ultimately fine. That’s not necessarily hope, it’s more optimism-tinged pragmatism. 

While 2016 was indeed a rough one for me, I’m determined to go into 2017 firing on all eight cylinders. I’ve still got room to grow my freelance operations and have ideas on how to do so, most all of which involve me doing more writing than I’ve ever done before. And I’m working out ways to give back, if not from me than from God’s abundant storehouse. That will move me pretty squarely outside my comfort zone but I’m trying to adhere to the adage of being the change I want to see, not just in the world but in myself. 

That likely won’t be easy. Getting myself out the door to begin with is 75% of the struggle most days. And I’m going to be working my part-time retail job more than I have been for the last month. But I’m hoping that a positive, servant-based attitude combined with having more control over my future than I’ve ever had before will lead to good things for me and my family. 

While I can’t necessarily say I have “hope” I do have the will to keep going down the road God has out before me. While I’m not optimistic about much in the wider world, my hope is that I can positively impact those in my immediate reach. If we all do that then the world will be a better place, regardless of who’s in the White House.