Hope is a Decision
 By:  Dr. Susan Nettleton

The decision to hope is a risk.  We risk disillusionment, disappointment, and sometimes embarrassment.  But with hope comes energy and new openness to positive solutions.  With hope we are motivated to enter into the stream of life where we can act, think, and pray.  Hopelessness carries greater risks; hopelessness breeds inaction, paralysis and despair.  When we choose hope, we are choosing to look for solutions.  It is hard to see solutions when we are in despair.  When we choose hope again, and again, and again, even in the face of daily disappointment, we begin to take the power away from external things,  and build the foundation of faith, faith in ourselves and faith in God.  We stay open.   First we choose hope, then we build faith.