At certain times in life when the path you tread is full of potholes, winding roads, steep hills where you never seem to get to the top to get a wider view of the road ahead, all you have to sustain you in this journey is hope.

Without hope, you fall into the deep darkness of the soul where you cannot fathom life to get better again. Some fall into depression, and I mean clinical depression, that can literally paralyze you.

In the darkest moments without hope, getting out of bed and facing the world may feel like a nightmare. You just want to curl up in bed and pray to doze off and disappear. The pain of hopelessness is real.

Summoning hope, in the midst of despair may seem unfathomable, but it can be done. If you cannot do it for yourself, focus on someone else. Hope for someone else’s recovery, help them and in this way you will get back your own hope in order to move on. Lethargy begets more lethargy. Action gets the ball rolling.

Sitting down, staring at your hopelessness only deepens the ditch you are already in. To climb out, ask for help, immerse yourself in a cause, friends, family to join the living.

Without hope, we die inside.