When Hope Feels Too Heavy

Hope isn’t always easy. And I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t always feel readily available.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say hope feels farthest away in the moments we need it most.

A quick Google search for “hope quotes” will give you pages upon pages of quotes, ranging from cheesy, to so oversimplified it’s almost insulting.

Perhaps if I felt a little more hopeful in this moment, I’d sound less cynical. But alas, here we are.

There are some days hope feels a million miles away, and I wonder if I’ll ever feel its warmth again.

Sometimes, hope is a spark — there one second, and gone the next.

Hope is a match at the bottom of a deep, dark chasm. Not enough to light the way, but enough to make itself known. Enough to keep in mind. Enough to remember.

Hope is star, shooting across the night sky. It leaves a trail — in the sky and in our spirits — saying, “I was here.”

Hope is a hot, burning torch, lighting the twisting, turning, steep, rocky mountain path.

Hope is a bonfire at the beach at the end of a perfect summer day.

Hope is the sun on a cloudless winter day, kissing your cheek and warming you from the inside out.

Some days, hope is a flashlight with dead batteries.

Here’s what I know about hope: It doesn’t cease to exist, simply because I can’t see it today.

Today, hope feels heavy. Too heavy to hold. Too big to even touch.

And I think that’s ok.

It’s ok if hope feels too big.
It’s ok if hope feels like a distant memory.
It’s ok if hope feels different today than it has before.
It’s ok if hope feels out-of-reach today.
It’s ok if hope feels too heavy to hold.

Because I don’t think we’re meant to hold hope on our own.

I think we can hold hope for each other — with each other.

I think we can borrow hope from each other.

I think we’re meant to walk this road together, to share in our joys and our burdens.

I think maybe hope belongs to all of us.

When hope feels too heavy for me to carry, I know you’re holding some for me.

And if yours gets blown out by the winds of life, I’ll shine mine your way.

Because hope is meant to be held together.