Filling up your hope tank

Assuming that you didn’t just land on planet earth, COVID-19 has been draining your hope tank. And not just by sipping your hope through a straw, but it feels like the plug has been pulled out of the bottom of the tub. Your hope level has been severely and substantially reduced, and there has been precious little to replenish it.

So, you’ve come to this fork in the road. How do you go about refilling your hope tank? Here are four very practical actions to take.

First – Aware.

Look reality square in the face and admit that your hope tank is not only low but that you are going to do something about it. You have come to the point that you are not going to stand still for your existing reality, your current circumstances.

Second – Dare.

Screw up your courage and dare to tell a friend exactly where you are and that you need hopeful encouragement. You don’t have to find someone who’s got their life perfectly all together. If that is who you are looking for, you’ll never move past step one.

Third – Care.

Reach out to a friend and offer to give them hopeful messages and encouragement. Show someone that you care enough that you are willing to risk initiating the conversation. Tell them that you value them as a person and a friend, and that’s what’s motivating you to care.

Fourth – Share.

Connect with someone you do not know and give them a word of hopeful encouragement. This can be the person you’re standing in line with, the person serving you, sitting near you. It can be a connection on social media. You’re not telling them because of your superiority, that you don’t need help. On the contrary, you are sharing hopeful encouragement because you need hopeful encouragement, just like them.

Be creative with your hopeful encouragement message. Let it come from your heart, from who you are.

Remember, there is no one else that can give your kind of hopeful encouragement