Cultivating Hope

In light of the horrific Boston marathon bombings and the shooting at the 4/20 rally in Denver, my heart grows heavy by the gravity of the impending chaos.  I feel myself overcome with fear, unsure of what is to come.  Fear and violence is beckoning at our doorstep, threatening to overcome us with its unrelenting force.

I sit here now, contemplating the state of affairs of our nation, our compromised freedom.  Fear and sadness enveloped into one threaten to consume me as negativity sweaps into my mind.  Who is responsible for all this violence and evil?  My guess is as good as yours.  The fact of the matter is evil is at work within our very own country, the land of the supposed free and the brave.

Our innate rights as citizens and living breathing humans are blatantly being threatened but sadly most are too distracted, too blind to see the reality and gravity of the situation.  I could sit here and write about the need for raised awareness but all that I would succeed in doing is spreading the fear that already permeates into the hearts of most.

So, instead I will muster all the energy and all the positivity within me to shed light on these dark times.  Yes, the world is turning into a scary place, but in my heart, I know there is always hope, no matter how abysmal the evil may be.  As cliche as it may sound, the battle for good vs. evil, light vs. dark is beckoning ever closer to our doorstep.

Yet, there is always a choice.  The choice to be consumed by the hate, the greed, the negativity or the choice to keep pushing on, living and loving that much more.  The moment we allow ourselves to be consumed by the negativity, the fear, is the moment they win.  The second we walk down this path into the shadow is the very moment we give up our power.

Though we may not be able to directly control what others do or mediate the evil choices and actions of others, we always have full and complete control over ourselves.  All we can do is take back the power that is innately ours, take back the freedoms that we all deserve as human beings.

I can sit here and dwell on the negative, dwell on the fear and hatred that is definitely a reality of this harsh world, or I can choose to focus on the good, the love that is still there, waiting to be awaken in the hearts of many.  All any of us have control over is our own thoughts, our own actions, whether they be guided by hate or love is up to us.  It all starts within each of us, each day, each moment, a point of choosing between negativity and the love that I truly believe is the common thread between us all.

We must cultivate this hope more now than ever before and in doing so, the good in all of us will rise up.  Whether this confrontation between good and evil results in mass destruction and chaos is up for question, but within my hearts of hearts I truly believe in the end, love will prevail.  We are at a pivotal point in our evolution and it is seriously up to all of us, individually and communally to come together and let our voices be heard.

To shy away in fear or to numb out would be the greatest tragedy of all.  In doing so, they've already won.  The choice is ours and now is the time to cultivate the hope, the love within ourselves to come together and take a stand for our right to life, freedom and happiness.  I ask all of you to not be bogged down by the violence, the hatred, the greed, for this is merely the shadow of humanity.  To give in is to give up our power to choose love instead of hate, light instead of darkness, positivity instead of negativity.  Today, I ask of you to cultivate hope with me at this pivotal time in the evolution of humanity, trusting that in the end, love will prevail.