“BE THE HOPE”

Last Sunday I was fortunate enough to attend a benefit performance for the victims of Hurricane Katrina featuring some amazing artists, including k.d. lang and Jackson Browne, at a local church here in Santa Monica. The theme of the benefit was “Be The Hope.”

The woman minister of the church opened the benefit by sharing her belief that we need to “be the hope.” There were four families at the performance who had lost everything. But they had hope, because they chose to hold on to the one thing that wind, water and other humans could never take from them - HOPE.

How often do we lose hope? How often does our ego or gremlin throw up things to us that seems to force hope right out of our hearts and souls.

The man or woman breaks up with you and you lose hope that you will ever have love again. You lose your job and lose hope that you will ever find a good paying job again. Or you find out you have a disease and you lose hope that you will be healthy again.

The ego / gremlin can really torment us. It can tell us things like – “see I told you no one would ever love you,” or “I told you the job was too much for you,” or “you know you’ll never be healthy again.”

I want you to take back your power from the ego / gremlin and know that there is an energy in the universe, a Source, that is the source of love, healing, renewal. And knowing that energy exists and that it loves and provides for us, brings hope.

Most of us haven’t lost everything – I know it can feel like it at times – and the gremlin convinces us we should give up hope. Yet there were four families without money, cars, jobs, a house or clothes who hadn’t given up. And as a result, they were surrounded by people who cared, who were willing to be the hope – to be the light to guide them back to joy and prosperity.

Hope is a choice. It is from your heart and soul. Loss of hope is from your ego – it’s all about fear. I’ll never have ______ again. Yes, choosing hope is the more challenging choice. But it’s also the more rewarding and uplifting choice.

So if you’re finding yourself in a situation where you have lost hope – reach out and ask someone for help. Say a prayer, and just know that it will be answered. When you choose hope you are creating a positive energy field around you and that draws people and situations to you that are also positive and helpful.

And most important of all – BE THE HOPE – for someone less fortunate than you. That will serve to remind you of all you do have.

Choose hope for yourself and others.

imagine the possibilities...

© Carol Chanel

From Pamela, a 36-year-old advertising executive, from Chicago

Q: Carol, I recently met an amazing man but I am afraid to really love him. My last relationship caused me a great deal of pain when it ended, 6 months ago, and I really don’t want to go through that ever again. I know after doing some therapy that he wasn’t a healthy man and wouldn’t have been good for me long term and it still doesn’t take away the hurt or fear. What do I do?

A: Pamela, how wise you were to go get therapy after your last breakup. Also, it sounds as if you are much better off not being in that relationship. I know that most of us suffer greatly when we end a relationship, healthy or not.

And Pamela, you do want to also look at the positive side of that relationship ending. He wasn’t right for you and it would have gotten worse, not better.

I’m wondering if you would be willing to grieve the loss and then acknowledge that perhaps there is a Source in the Universe that is looking out for you and has a wonderful relationship waiting for you – when you are ready. Perhaps it’s the man you’ve already met.

Pamela, here’s what I know to be true – as we are on our way to becoming fully conscious, joyful, loving human beings we choose all sorts of people to be on that journey with us. Many of them choose different directions, many of them take a different path, and some of them continue the journey with us for a lifetime. I like to thank, honor and acknowledge everyone on my path and that includes the ones who take a right turn when we make a left. Those who do take a different turn often teach us the most about life and ourselves.

If you let them go on their own path, and you thank them, you are free to live and love again. If you hold on to them and the pain, then you are stuck and scared. I want to encourage you to thank them, let them go and keep on your path.

Don’t let the past keep you from love in the present. It’s just the past. It has no power on the present – no matter how loudly the gremlin is screaming at you that it has absolute power - it doesn’t – it’s the past. Nothing to do with the now.

Pamela, trust that you have worked on yourself and, as a result, are now drawing a healthier man into your life. Pay attention to what he does and says - be conscious, have good boundaries and let yourself love!

I recently reread one of my favorite Wayne Dyer books, “There’s A Spiritual Solution To Every Problem.”

He uses Saint Francis of Assisi’s prayer “Lord, let me be an instrument of thy peace” to develop his chapters. In chapter 11 he writes about “Where there is despair, hope.” Below are some of my favorite passages:

“What is hope but a feeling of optimism, a thought that says things will improve, it won’t always be bleak, there’s a way to rise above the present circumstances. Hope is an internal awareness that you do not have to suffer forever, and that somehow, somewhere there is a remedy for despair that you will come upon if you can only maintain this expectancy in your heart. When we say this line in the Saint Francis prayer we ask for strength to bring hope to all who are in despair as well as to ourselves. For it is in the presence of a hopeful vision that despair and suffering no long hold our attention.

It is impossible for hope and despair to exist simultaneously, one simply cancels the other out.”

“Be persistent in acting as if it is impossible to fail. I love this quotation from Louis Pasteur: ‘Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.’ I suggest that you become like a pit bull holding on to a bone called hope. Keep a death grip on that bone called hope regardless of what comes along, and regardless of the obstacles and so-called failures that have previously induced despair.”

“Never give in. Never, never, never, never. In nothing great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” Winston Churchill

I help people get unstuck and find happiness and fulfillment.

As human beings we sometimes forget what it feels like to live from our hearts and souls. We forget the thrill of taking the brakes off and flying. Life is dull if we just live from our minds.

People come to me generally with some issue, some place in their life where they are stuck, and can't move forward. Usually they get stuck in their relationships, life purpose or trying to maintain balance.

Do you know someone who is settling, for less than exciting, either in their relationships or career?

Ask them to call me. They don't have to be stuck! And once they are unstuck they can fly -- and be wild and free!

I've been helping people really live and thrive since 1983.

If you would like to explore working with me, please call me at 310-998-8860.

You can visit my website at:
http://www.carolchanel.com

You'll find other articles there and more in-depth information about both me and my services.

Carol Chanel
Certified Life Coach
http://www.carolchanel.com
mailto: carolchanel@verizon.net
310-998-8860
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