How often do we give way to negative thinking when in fact one simple positive thought could wash it all away and carry us upstream on a current of bliss?

I often envision hope as a beautiful well-spring that starts somewhere unknown to me but is always nearby and available to me. The reason I like this particular visual is for two reasons.

The first reason that I envision hope as an “eternal spring” is because it is refreshing and energizing at the same time. I see it as something which cleanses me deeply not superficially. I see it as uniquely beautiful which both entices and mystifies me. I create it in my minds eye as beautiful as this photo depicts it. Solid as a rock, healthy as the greenery and bubbling with effervescence.

The second reason I like my image of an “eternal spring” is that it has a endless and replenishing source from which I can drink. It is always fresh. It is always close at hand. When my spirit is low I can seek out this special place in my mind and I know that it will always nourish me.

But the visual and the image are just one aspect of my enjoyment. The more important aspect of using hope as a foundation in my life is in fact my choice of it. There are times in my life, in fact have been many times, when people have called me naive or referred to me as unrealistic. And perhaps they are right, at least from their own perspective I am sure they are, but in my world I have chosen to remain hopeful and energized about this thing called life and those of us within it. I have chosen to believe that most humans want freedom to express themselves and do not have any desire to repress others. I have chosen that learning is fun and age is not important. So if those choices make me naive or unrealistic then let me say this about that: it is fun for me and so I am going to keep on choosing it. It is my life and therefore my choice.

So if you thought you had no say in the matter. If you thought that perhaps a strategy of “hope for the best” (which for some reason has always sounded like a half sentence to me in which the other half sounds something like “and settle for less”) is all you need then I encourage you to create your own visual (or borrow mine if you so choose) and then you too can have a place from which hope shall spring eternal.