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'Small things' and the Power of Hope

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Each year, Indigo Lounge Wellness Centre is a satellite drop off for the Power of Hope Community Organization. Their mission is to provide support with compassion to families in need throughout our local communities by providing donated pajamas, stuffed toys, slippers, hats and mittens, toiletries and so on.

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Small things.

When we first got involved with this, I thought we were just helping provide some basic needs. That is, until one of our customers brought in some pajamas and teddy bears. She explained that many years before, she and her sons had to go to a women’s shelter. Her son, who was a near adult now, still cherished the teddy bear he was given at the shelter and hugged it for years, she explained.

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The small things made a big difference. The small things gave hope.

Small acts of kindness make the world a better place. Not just for the recipient but the donor and all those that witness the act. It’s good for our health too. Practicing kindness regularly has been researched to boost immune system, reduce headache and tension, generate positive thoughts and emotions and activates empathy and emotional processing as well as increases grey matter in the brain.

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Think of time when you were feeling dejected, discouraged and desperate. Perhaps you were even starting to feel hopeless. Then something switched. The situations may have very well stayed the same, but something or someone gave you a glimpse of hope that filled your heart. You see, hope is an emotion that springs from the heart, not the brain. It can stay hidden and dormant until its amazing strength is beckoned by some small thing. It somehow provides the belief that you will overcome, you will persevere, and you will endure anything and everything that comes your way. It’s not a wish for things to get better, but rather it is the actual belief that things will get better, no matter how big or small.

Finding hope in a desolate situation can make the difference of giving up or carrying on. Hope can shift us from victim mode to survivor.

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Kelly Spencer
Kelly Spencer

Dr. Asa Andrew, author of Empowering Your Health, quotes Dr. Jerome Groopman, M.D., who practiced hematology and oncology (treatment of cancer) for 30 years. Throughout the years, Dr. Groopman’s patients taught him about the power of hope. Here’s the quote Dr. Andrew uses from the book The Anatomy of Hope:

“Hope is one of our central emotions, but we are often at a loss when asked to define it. Many of us confuse hope with optimism, a prevailing attitude that things will turn out for the best. But hope differs from optimism. Hope does not arise from being told to think positively, or from hearing an overly rosy forecast. Hope, unlike optimism, is rooted in unalloyed reality. Although there is no uniform definition of hope, I found one that seemed to capture what my patients had taught me. Hope is the elevating feeling we experience when we see – in the mind’s eye – a path to a better future. Hope acknowledges the significant obstacles and deep pitfalls along that path. True hope has no room for delusion.”

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According to 20 years of scientific research conducted by positive psychology founder Martin Seligman, hope reduces feelings of helplessness, boosts happiness, reduces stress, and improves our quality of life. Hope is one of the most important mental traits in life. Without doubt, it is one of the most important traits of positive people. Hopeful people can face even the most negative times with a positive attitude. And because of the many health benefits of optimism, hope significantly improves our mental health.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi.

As we approach the holiday season, we can get “wrapped” up in the big consumerism and forget the meaning behind it all. Thoughtful generosity and kindness and peace and love for all.

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I invite you to think of ways to offer small acts of kindness and hope for others as well as celebrating the little things in your life that sometimes can be taken for granted.

If you are interested in donating to the Oxford Chapter – Power of Hope, you can drop off pajamas (for small kids, big kids, teenagers and women), socks, toiletries and of course, teddy bears, to Indigo Lounge Wellness Centre. Donation box located at the Organic Eatery, located at 264 Tillson Avenue, Tillsonburg.

Your small gift will be the hope that some families desperately need.

(Happy Healthy YOU is a wellness column by Kelly Spencer: writer, life coach, yoga & meditation teacher, holistic healer and a mindful life enthusiast! If you would like to see an article on a specific topic, please email kelly@indigolounge.ca).

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