Without Hope, We Have Nothing

While researching this post, I encountered so many excellent, usable quotes that I had to stop for a second and further ponder why I desired to write a post about a topic that has already been written about extensively. I mean, the current president of these United States of America, Barrack Obama, practically based his entire candidacy on hope, or better put: on the premise, and promise, of believing in and rediscovering a lost hope. He even penned a best-selling book called “The Audacity of Hope.” One of his heroes, Martin Luther King, Jr., constantly orated about hope:

“If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.”

Men and women throughout history talk of hope, the opposite of despair, which is also a highly quoted subject matter. Hope and despair are forever linked; you can’t think about one without thinking about the other. The great writer, George Bernard Shaw, may have put it best:

“He who has never hoped can never despair.”

And for those who like their hope quotes a bit darker, there’s always that cheery, optimistic philosopher Freidrich Nietzsche:

“Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man.”

Although I prefer a softer, kinder hope, as I mentioned earlier, “Ya can’t talk hope without talking about the bad stuff too.” (One of my quotes. Don’t think it will be enshrined into the quote hall of fame anytime soon). To hear me talk more about hope, and why I feel this is a worthwhile topic, I produced this video:

WITHOUT HOPE, WE HAVE NOTHING



One of the things that continually amazes me is the hope I witness in others who have no business believing in anything, much less hope. It makes little difference what specific hardship or malady, act of violence or bad luck I am referring to, only that these brave, resilient souls somehow find it within themselves to persevere, to go on and rise above whatever tragedy that has befallen them and do something with their lives. Which, as always, brings me to what I’m all about—what livelife365.com is all about: living life every day in every way and not letting anyone or anything stand in your way.

Which also brings me to this amazing email I received from a loyal follower of livelife365. His name is Pierre and he is a lot like you, me, and millions of other people in this world. He is a human being and he’s made mistakes, embraced vices like smoking (cigarettes and marijuana), overeating, and practicing bad nutritional habits, which means he is not perfect, just like you and me. But like those aforementioned folks who refuse to give up even while facing great odds, Pierre wanted to change his life for the better. He began by researching green tea, because he had heard that drinking green tea was a good way to lose weight. He found my green tea video on YouTube, and then, like many others, stumbled upon my site, and began watching my videos on weight loss, diet and nutrition, and motivation. And, according the Pierre, livelife365 helped him lose 18 pounds in three months and changed his life. I was so thrilled by Pierre’s story that I produced a video about it:

FEEDBACK: LIVELIFE365 IS WORKING!



Like I said on the above video, and as I say countless times, there are hundreds of thousands of Pierre’s out there that need to change their lives for the better. All they need is a push in the right direction and some common sense advice on how to do it. I strongly feel livelife365, both this blog and my video site, can offer that push and advice.

At the end of my video about hope, I play a short version of my theme song, called “livelife365.”

Gee, Mike, how did you come up with that name?

Ahem, no one likes a wise guy…

Anyway, that song, along with letters like Pierre’s, epitomizes what livelife365 is all about. The lyrics say it all.

Visit the Feedback section of livelife365.com to read Pierre's complete letter.

And click the below widget to listen to the complete version of the song, “livelife365.”

In closing, I leave you with a quote from one of the most quoted political figures of the last century, Winston Churchill:

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Until next time…

peace (and hope),

Mike