I was recently asked to re-post this essay Chris Reynolds wrote so it could be read again, so here you go: What Matters Most Life can be difficult sometimes. When it seems things cant get any worse, the only motivation to keep going is hope. When someone has fallen on hard times, hope is not only a necessity - it may be all they have. If a person is without hope, then they really have lost everything. Having hope stops people from falling into a slump they cant get out of, it gives them a reason to get out of the bed in the morning. Hope is what drives us. A world without hope would be a bleak and desolate place. There would be no motivation for people to better themselves or chase their dreams. Why go to college if you dont have the hope that youll get your dream job in the future? Why even go to work if theres no hope for success? The world would be all black and white without hope to color it and to add its character. When things become difficult, people would just give up. Thats just not who we are. Our country was founded on hope. If Columbus didnt have the hope that he could find the New World, he would have never set sail and then where would we be? If the Colonists didnt have the hope that they could have a better life, wed still be under British rule. Without hope, the wagon trains would never have set out for the west and about half of our country would have never been settled. Without hope, would the Wright brothers have dared to fly? Would Martin Luther King Jr. have dared to dream? Would Neil Armstrong taken that small step? Its hard to believe that anyone could possibly accomplish anything without hope. Without hope, we have nothing. Thankfully, Columbus did sail, King had his dream, Armstrong took his step. As long as people choose to hope and choose to dream, they can accomplish anything. They can overcome anything and survive. Hope is what brings the soldier home to his family. Hope is the child in Haiti believing that tomorrow will bring a better day. Hope sends the teenager to college - the first in his family to go. Hope is the one thing that no one can take away from us without us allowing them to, no matter how bad things get. It is crucial to never let go of it. It is important not to lose sight of this in our own lives. The bills and car payments may be past due and there is less food on the table than ever before. Maybe an illness has made work impossible, or a loved one is lost. No matter what, we must remain vigilant and hopeful that better days are still to come. More importantly, we must keep working towards those days. Its one things to have hope, but you still have to do something with it. It wasnt enough for Columbus to just have the hope hed find the New World, he had to use that hope as the wind behind his sails and set off. We cant just sit around day dreaming, we have to follow his example and let hope be our wind, too. We have to hope things will be better, hope for the future, and then take charge and do something about it. Today we need to look for that better job and send In our resumes. Look at our dream school and send in our applications. If your dream is to be an artist, pick up a brush. Hope is the most important thing in this world because it doesnt just help us when times are bad. It gives us the tools and the motivation to fulfill our dreams, and in the end...thats all that matters.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 02:39:52 +0000