THE POWER OF HOPE

After this conversation below with Gilbert Girl, it made me start thinking a lot.  So bear with me while I try to write down and express these thoughts I've had.

The other day I was talking to Gilbert Girl on the phone.  She was telling me about the movie she had just watched the night before with her children, "Neverending Story".  I've never seen this movie, but she said she was struck with this quote she heard towards the end  of the movie:
Atreyu: But why is Fantasia dying, then?
G'mork: Because people have begun to lose their hopes and forget their dreams. So the Nothing grows stronger.
Atreyu: What is the Nothing?
G'mork: It's the emptiness that's left. It's like a despair, destroying this world. And I have been trying to help it.
Atreyu: But why?
G'mork: Because people who have no hopes are easy to control; and whoever has the control... has the power!

I looked up Hope in the dictionary.  Here are some things it says about Hope:
- the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.
-to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence
-to believe, desire, or trust
-to feel that something desired may happen
- hope against hope, to continue to hope, although the outlook does not warrant it


I also looked up hopelessness in the dictionary:
-providing no hope; beyond optimism or hope

- impossible to accomplish, solve, resolve
which basically had the same definitions as despair:
- to lose all hope or confidence

- to lose, give up, or be without hope
But here is one more definition under hopelessness:
-not able to learn or act, perform or work as desired; inadequate for the purpose
This last definition makes more sense when you think of the last line of the quote above:
"Because people who have no hopes are easy to control..."

What is it that we hope for?  I can remember as a kid asking my mom what she wanted for Christmas.  She would always reply:  "All I want is for my children to be healthy and happy."  I used to think: "What a lame thing to ask for."  But that was before I had children myself. 

There is a Scottish proverb that says: "Were it not for hope the heart would break."
I think people who are religious have hope.  We hope for a better world.  We hope for a life after this one.  We hope to be with our loved ones in the next life.  We hope to do well in this life. 

That's brings me to another quote I found: "Hope is the parent of faith." (Cyrus A. Bartol)  So if we have hope, and we do hope, then what?  I think it brings us to prayer.  We pray to a higher power and ask for help with our hope.  After we pray, we have faith that our hope will come about. 

What if we have no hope?  Remember the last line of the quote?  "Because people who have no hopes are easy to control."  I think a lack of hope brings despair, depression and a loss of self-worth.  I also think that Satan is real and when we have no hope then he can influence us more to be depressed, which can then lead to a whole lot of other things.  I think that is why we do need both faith and hope.  In the Book of Mormon, Moroni says "Wherefore,  if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope." (Moroni 7:42)

If you want to read a really good talk about hope, click on this link below:
LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Infinite Power of Hope

Well, those are at least some of my thoughts.  Thanks for reading.  I'd also like to hear some of your thoughts on hope.

GIRLY ME

If you're wondering why "Girly Me" hasn't blogged recently, it's because her computer is broken and she is not allowed to get on the internet at work anymore.  She's hoping to get her computer fixed with her tax return.  In the meantime, I told her she could come over and use my computer any time.  Also in the meantime, she won't be blogging.  Now you know! :0)  She appreciates the concern of everyone who was wondering why she hadn't been blogging!

AHH, BOOKS!

My husband recently retired.  It's been kind of nice to have him around all the time and it's fun to just be able to go do whatever we want to do.  But I have to admit that I had to make some adjustments at first. 

Every morning when I eat breakfast, I read my scriptures.  When my husband worked, he would leave before I ate breakfast, so I always ate breakfast by myself.  Now we eat breakfast together.  I read my scriptures and he watches me read my scriptures.  I keep telling him to get his scriptures and he can read his while he eats, and he does do this some mornings, just not every morning.  He renewed our subscription to the newspaper and now he reads that most mornings.

When my husband worked, I also ate lunch by myself (of course).  At lunch I would read whatever book I was reading.  I would eat my lunch while I read and sit there about an hour while I read.  I'm not the kind of person who can just sit and read a book during the day.  I have too much to do, or at least I think I do.  So I read during lunch, and every once in awhile I go to bed early and read some more, but I usually don't do that because if I'm in bed reading, I get sleepy.  So when my husband retired, I wasn't reading any books.  I kept trying and couldn't get into them, because I'd only snatch a few minutes of reading here and there. 

For my birthday my husband bought me a Kindle.  I was so surprised because I hadn't even asked for one.  A few days after he bought it for me I went to him and told him that since he bought me that Kindle, then I was going to go back to reading during lunch again.  My husband eats his lunch in the den while he watches tv, and I ate there with him after he retired.  But now I am back to eating my lunch in the kitchen while I read.  I'm averaging about a book a week.  It's been so fun and I've read some really great books.  Since I started doing this I've read: ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE, HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET (a REALLY great book!!!), and now I'm reading "THE HELP". 

I have 5 books on my Kindle now.  I haven't read any of them, because I'm reading all the books I got for Christmas first.  Of the 5 books I have on my Kindle, I only paid for 1 of them because the other 4 were free because they were classics!  Pretty cool!  :0)

DON'T CLICK ON THE LINK - IT'S A VIRUS!

I'm having some serious computer problems.  Quite awhile ago - like several months ago- I got one of those emails that someone sends you, that is a link. And yes, like an idiot I clicked on it and it gave me a virus, or a worm or something.  Well it has done some serious damage to my computer and even though I'm still able to use it for right now, it is just a matter of time until the hard drive crashes.  My husband called Dell and talked to them about it.  Since my computer is only a couple of years old, and since the 2 year warranty just barely expired, they suggested buying an extended warranty and then get it fixed, so that is what we're going to do.  We have to wait 3 days for the extended warranty to kick in, and then we are going to take it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy, which is where Dell suggested we take it.  I'd like to get it fixed as soon as possible, because at the end of the month I am going to visit my mother-in-law in another state and take care of her after her surgery.  I'd sure like to have a computer to take with me.  It's interesting, because even though I knew I was having problems, I would never have figured it out if Dell hadn't sent me a download for a computer checkup.  I wonder if they knew I was having problems so that is why they sent it.  Anyway, after it downloaded, it suggested I do a complete scan, which I did.  After the scan it told me that my hard drive was in danger of crashing and I needed to back up all my files.
You know, I don't understand how someone gets their kicks by creating viruses that destroy other people's computers.  I know Inklings just had to get their hard drive replaced, and Amber says she has to get her's replaced also.  The Moral of this story?  Never click on a link that is sent to you unless the person who sent it to you has typed some kind of message to you.  The kind of virus I got was just a link in the text of the email and nothing more.  There also was no subject in the subject line.  After this, I may never click on a link in an email at all!

HYDRATION

I've got a new volunteer position as a new Cub Master.  Kind of weird because I've never met a woman Cub Master before.  Yesterday my husband and I went up to our church where one of the other Cub Packs (not ours) were setting up the track for their Pinewood Derby that night.  Since this is my first time as Cub Master, and since my husband said he would help me put the track together at the end of the month when our Pack has their Derby, we went up to see how it was done.  We ended up helping, of course, and were glad to see how easily the track fits together. They had asked 2 college age boys to come help set up, and these boys had pulled out the big box the track was in, and was in the process of removing stacks of extra chairs with a dolley to another room, when one of the boys bent over and began breathing heavily.  I went over to him and patted him on the back and asked him if he was ok.  He said "Yes", but kept breathing heavy.  I said, "Is it a case of needing some food?" He said, "Yes".  Since he wasn't seeming to pull out of it, I suggested to him that we find him some food - no small feat in a church that is not supposed to have food of any kind stored anywhere in the building.  He went to the kitchen and I went to one of the nurseries.  I found an opened package of trail mix that I know had been there at least 3 months, since I had seen it there when I helped out in the nursery at least that long ago.  When I went to find him, he wasn't in the kitchen but was coming back from the other nursery, with no luck.  I showed him the trail mix and told him, "No telling how old that is, but if you're desperate..."  He did take it and I think did eat at least some of it.  I went back to helping put the track together, but about a half hour later heard him telling the Pack Chairman (who is also a woman) that he had almost passed out about 5 times so far.  He kept sitting on this chair, acting like he couldn't shake it.  A few minutes later I went over to him again and said, "Hey, just tell me what you want to eat, and I'll go get you something."  He said he was going to go home and get something (he only lived 2 blocks away) but he was trying to get his head clear so he could make it to his car.  His friend was going to drive him home.  Then I had another thought.  I said, "I wonder if this is a case of just needing hydration."  I told him I was going to go get him some water.  I went to the kitchen but couldn't find any glasses, so just took a plastic pitcher to the water fountain and put some water in it and took it to him.  He acted like "I really don't need this, I need food", but took it anyway.  He took a couple of swallows and stopped and said, "Hey, I really think that is helping".  Then he drank the rest of it.  Probably equal to about a glass of water.  When he finished he said that maybe that was part of it as he was really starting to feel better.  He went ahead and went on home to get something to eat.  I remember watching an Oprah show one time about hydration.  The doctor on her show said that sometimes when we feel hungry during the day, we are really just thirsty and we should try drinking a full glass of water before we eat anything.  I don't think we really hydrate our bodies enough.  We have to remember that when we are hydrating our bodies, we are also hydrating our brains too.  I looked this up on the web and it said that some signs that you are not drinking enough water are: Dark urine Dry skin Thirst Hunger Fatigue Here are 11 benefits of drinking water: 1. Helps you lose weight --helps flush out fat, reduces hunger, and is an effective appetite suppresant 2. Natural remedy for headache 3. Helps you look younger with healthier skin 4. Better productivity at work or school- drinking water helps you think better 5. Better exercise - drinking water helps regulate your body temperature and helps you feel more energetic 6. Helps in digestion and constipation - drinking water raises your metabolism 7. Less cramps and sprains - drinking water helps keep your joints & muscles lubricated 8. Less likely to get sick  - helps fight against flu, kidney stones, heart attack, and can improve our immune system 9. Relieves fatigue - if your body lacks water, your heart and other organs have to work harder, also helps flush out toxins and waste products 10. Good mood - your body feels good and so do you 11. Reduces the risk of cancer - may reduce the risk of bladder cancer and colon cancer