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
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