"Hope dies last" they say. I know this from personal experience, because it was precisely only hope alone that carried me on many days that brought nothing more to the plate other than discouragement. Having hope means putting your faith in something and believing in it past reason. Its a level of loyalty and trust that you have for something that is so special to you that you have no room for doubt to nest in. I'd also have to say that hope gave me a sense of confidence that it was just a matter of time...and confidence feels good so feeding into that hope also fed into my confidence.
Someone once told me that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different outcome. And surely, speakin' of the devil, they were spot on. There comes a point when you have to learn when its time to cut your losses because even hope has run its course. What was once a source of inspiration and beauty, now inspires exasperation. This brings me back to one of my financial education influenced 'aha moments' that I've mentioned in a previous entry in this blog: "Time is our most liquid asset. Review your investment portfolio and spend it wisely. The best R.O.I. is a life best lived". Also, like another friend of mine told me: insistence is admirable, but persistence gets old. It turns into a very exhausting, unfulfilled and unhappy situation. That's when the time has come for the natural process of putting matters to rest and allowing hope to die, and thus making space for the process of letting go and moving on. Its a process that starts off with feelings of painful loss and great sadness, that are soon to be followed by an immense feeling of freedom and excitement for new experiences. When this happens, that excitement injects vitality and zest back into your life, and during what used to be the daily routine of waking up to what would turn out to be another day of unfulfilled hope, now you wake up in high spirits and your eyes sparkling bright and full of liveliness. As Elizabeth Gilbert wrote, "It is time for something beautiful to give way for something else that is beautiful."
