As I say goodbye to 2024 and step into 2025, one of the desires of my heart is to grow on focusing on the good things that are growing – whether that’s in my life, in the lives of others or in our world.
I notice that cynicism is on the rise today. Our cultures are increasingly pessimistic, characterized by a general distrust of others people’s motives. It’s easy to be lured into this attitude, resulting in feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness etc., which in turn, hinder us from working for change, or even seeing the possibility of change. This has lured some further into seeing violence as the only option for bringing about positive change.
Unfortunately, this is sometimes encouraged by news cycles, which seem to delight in focusing on negative news. Listening to them, one could think that there’s nothing good that is happening in our world. They tap into my survival instinct, which generates fear and defensive living. I’ve learnt that it’s important to limit that influence in my life.
But when I focus on, and think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise in our lives and our world, I find that there is much for which I can be grateful. And in turn, this generates and nurtures hope – something that we all need and long for.
All of us have hopes. Things we dream about and yearn for, with great longing. They can range from simple desires, like having a fun outing with our family to desires for peace in our world and better care of our environment to spiritual desires for connecting with the transcendent to find meaning and purpose for my life. And these hopes in turn impact the practical day-to-day decisions that we make about how we spend our time, money and energy; where we live, our jobs, our relationships and so on. Hope sustains our daily aspirations and activities. So, I find it important to consciously cultivate this gift and quality of hope in my life.
I have noticed that certain activities, relationships and sources have helped me focus on the good things growing in my life, the lives of others and in our world and nurture hope in me. I want to focus more on these in 2025.
Where will your focus be in 2025? My wish for you, is that it will be on that which nurtures hope in you. Here’s wishing you, a hope-filled 2025!
