Ripples v5.38: Ripples of FEATHERS IN YOUR SOUL!

Ripples v5.38: Paul's Free Weekly Splash of Inspiration

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= PEBBLE =o=o=o=o=o==o=o
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.
-Emily Dickinson, submitted by Michelle S., Green Bay, WI

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= BOULDER =o=o=o=o=o=o=o

But hope isn't a choice, it's a moral obligation,
a human obligation, an obligation to the cells in your body.
Hope is a function of those cells, it's a bodily function
the same as breathing and eating and sleeping.
Hope is not naive, hope grapples endlessly with despair.
Real, vivid, powerful, thunderclap hope, like the soul,
is at home in darkness, is divided;
but lose your hope and you lose your soul,
and you don't want to do that, trust me,
even if you haven't got a soul, and who knows,
you shouldn't be careless about it.
-Tony Kushner, submitted by Lin H., Normal, IL

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= PONDER =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o

You know what hope is! It is that magical feeling that allows you
to survive all kinds of difficulties because somehow you just KNOW
that tomorrow or the next day or the day after that, things will get better.
The secret to finding hope? It is to CREATE hope for someone else!
Think of someone you know who is having a difficult time. Better yet,
keep your eyes open for an acquaintance or a complete stranger who
appears to be having a difficult day. Step in to help them in some
small way and that will remind them there is good in the world, which
will give them hope, which will in turn give YOU hope. Try it.
I dare you.

Oh, one more thing: keep your eyes and ears open for someone who
does something nice for you. One Ripple reader is going to win a
thousand bucks next month for reporting a ripple they received.
Details to follow....

Peace,
Paul