{"id":250,"date":"2015-11-30T15:40:34","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T20:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/debraengleeverydaymiracles\/?p=250"},"modified":"2015-11-30T15:53:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T20:53:00","slug":"down-in-the-dumps-how-hope-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/debraengleeverydaymiracles\/2015\/11\/down-in-the-dumps-how-hope-can-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Down In the Dumps? How Hope Can Help"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by the author<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we ate one of the best turkeys ever (a combination of Trader Joe\u2019s fresh fowl and my sister-in-law\u2019s fine cooking skills), met my lifelong friend Ann\u2019s delightful new husband, played countless games of Rook with Bob\u2019s brothers and sister-in-law and decorated the Christmas tree according to the law of least effort.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s back-to-work Monday, it\u2019s sleeting in central Iowa, there are no Rook games or turkey sandwiches in our immediate future, and the first words I heard on the news this morning were, \u201cThree people were killed when\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

For this and other more cosmic reasons, I was a bit down in the dumps when I came downstairs to my office this morning. But there, on my desk, I found an issue of Spirituality & Health<\/em> magazine from 2007, open to a story about hope.<\/p>\n

I had no idea how it got there.<\/p>\n

I was pretty sure it wasn\u2019t an accident, though. Arranging for a story to show up on my desk at just the right moment sounds like the work of my spiritual guides, but I figured they might have needed some human hands to help. I asked Bob if he knew anything about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you put a magazine on my desk?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did,\u201d he said. It turns out the magazine was on his<\/em> desk, open to the story about hope, and he didn\u2019t know how it got there, either. He figured I might have been responsible, so he thought he was returning it to me.<\/p>\n

Apparently hope is a message for both of us.<\/p>\n

The article, which includes a questionnaire based on the work of Anthony Scioli, Ph.D., starts by asking if you feel confident that you can achieve your goals, knowing that you\u2019re supported by your own abilities and the help of others.<\/p>\n

The questionnaire phrases this question in light of other people who inspire you and give you good advice, something I\u2019m thankful for in my life. But more and more, I find myself turning to Spirit guides for direction I can trust\u2014partly because they put magazine articles under my nose at the perfect moment. And largely because I know their guidance will be untainted by ego.<\/p>\n

Plus, they usually come up with something I\u2019ve never considered before.<\/p>\n

For instance, when I asked Spirit this morning about the article on hope and where it came from, I said I was down in the dumps and asked what I was supposed to learn. This is what I heard:<\/p>\n

We are here with you always, and we appreciate your asking, especially when you are \u201cdown in the dumps,\u201d as you say. That\u2019s an interesting phrase. You are truly in the dumps, in the scrap heap in your mind. It is a smelly and unhappy place to be, is it not? But, of course, the good news is that rising above the dumps and climbing out of the Dumpster is just a thought away. <\/em><\/p>\n

It is important to feel supported even when you are not in control\u2014to know that there is meaning and purpose and intention in your life even when you are flailing around in the Dumpster, wondering how you got there, even though deep down you know that you opened the lid and climbed in without anyone\u2019s help.<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh, yeah.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I like talking to Spirit and my ever-directive guides.<\/p>\n

They give me a different point of view, wake me up, educate me and sometimes give me a not-so-gentle thump on the side of the head.<\/p>\n

For instance, when I wrote The Only Little Prayer You Need<\/em><\/a>, I made a commitment to myself and Spirit. The book was essentially done, and the proposal was ready. \u201cI\u2019ll send them to Stephany, my agent, on Monday,\u201d I promised, knowing that was the next essential step.<\/p>\n

But at the end of that Monday, even though the email was ready to go, I sat in front of the computer and tried to argue my way out of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if Stephany doesn\u2019t like it?\u201d my ego asked. \u201cWhat if she does<\/em>? What if the book flops? What if it\u2019s a huge success?\u201d<\/p>\n

My ego bounced around, as egos do, like a boxer trying to keep me off balance. But before long, I heard my guides\u2019 voice cutting right through all that fear-based noise.<\/p>\n

\u201cPush the button and send it,\u201d the voice said. It was clear and no-nonsense, unimpressed by the boxing match.<\/p>\n

Oh<\/em>, I thought. And I sent it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d my guides said. \u201cWe\u2019ll take it from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they did. They arranged for a foreword from the Dalai Lama and an endorsement from Desmond Tutu, and they\u2019ve taken the book all over the world, healing fear right and left. My human hands were simply the ones that helped.<\/p>\n

This perspective is part of Scioli\u2019s excellent questionnaire, which includes questions about working with Spirit, such as \u201cI pursue my goals hand in hand with God or a higher power\u201d and \u201cThere is a higher intelligence that guides life in a positive direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

It turns out, Scioli says, that high levels of hope are the best predictors of well-being, and that we can cultivate hope, making it a way of life.<\/p>\n

For me, that means sitting down daily and listening to what my guides have to say\u2014especially when they wave an eight-year-old magazine from nowhere in front of my face. When I do, my day can be as effortless as decorating the Christmas tree. When I don\u2019t, I may spend a good share of the day in the Dumpster.<\/p>\n

So if you or someone you know is feeling a bit down in the dumps, remember that you can build hope by working with your guides. Ask them to put hope right in your path. Look for it to show up in unexpected ways. Trust that it\u2019s there for you. And feel free to borrow this insight from today\u2019s conversation with my guides:<\/p>\n

Hope is not for the faint of heart. It\u2019s something you can feel when you\u2019re in the Dumpster, and when you\u2019re not, but it will shine brighter when you\u2019re in the darkness. If you\u2019re standing in the light, it\u2019s difficult to see more light. But when you\u2019re in the darkness, the light becomes a beacon.<\/em><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t that just the way of Spirit? To give us exactly what we need when we need it. And to remind us that, even when we forget, hope is there to lead us out of that Dumpster and back into the light once again.<\/p>\n

Blessings,<\/p>\n

Deb<\/p>\n

Learn more about Anthony Scioli\u2019s work at gainhope.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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