Choose Hope

Christopher Reeve said, “Once we choose hope, anything is possible.” We special parents have good days and bad days with our children, but our best days are those filled with hope. Hope for the here and now along with hope for our child’s future. I feel we must understand that hope is a choice—people that don’t ever have to think about reaching inside themselves to grasp some hope to get through a day probably don’t realize it is a choice. The alternative would be focusing on the negative, the “what ifs”, the “cant’s”, or the “wont’s”...as a parent, those words cannot be in our vocabulary in order for us to pass on the light of hope that our children so desperately need, so they can dig deep within themselves and call upon it whenever they may need it. It would be making the conscious choice to dwell on all the things our kids can’t do, instead of the things they can do. If that is what we chose, what kind of message would we be sending to our children?
With the multiple physician and/or therapy appointments we take our kids to, all too often the focus is on what our children are not capable of, and a professional’s opinion is usually all we have to get us through any particular day. While many, many professionals give us hope, there are many days we have to have our own sense of hope when those appointments don’t go the way we had expected. That “piece” of hope is based on what we know our children are capable of (after all, no one knows our kids better than we do...), not what the expert we see on any particular day has to say about them. If you are surrounded by family and friends that are hopeful, it is much easier to “find” our hope when we need it...
Our kids will always look to us for an example, for empowerment, and encouragement...if our light of hope would dim for any reason, we may be unwillingly deterring their progress that day—or we may be altering their self esteem and not even realize it. We must lead by example and look towards them with positive expectancy. Our kids have dreams and wishes just like all kids; obviously, we have to be realistic as to not frustrate them, but if we expect great things for them, they will always be sure of themselves and know that they can and will do anything they want to....and if their body or mind limits them in any way, they will always have our loving support and encouragement that stems from that constant light of hope inside us. That hope can present itself as many different things to different people at any given moment—it may appear to you when you see your child do the smallest thing that you may have been working on for months, or when they have met goals above and beyond your expectations—that unbelievably wonderful feeling that comes over you that you just can’t quite explain to someone in words (I know the feeling very well!)...That is the feeling of expectancy beyond belief. That is what our children need more than anything at times. That is the hope I’m challenging you to find, or if you have already found it—embrace it with all of the energy inside of you... I know first hand that the smallest light of hope can get us through even the darkest day...have you made your choice? Choose hope and anything will be possible...

~Maria