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Excerpted from 365 Prescriptions for the Soul by Bernie Siegel. Copyright © 2004 by Bernie Siegel. Excerpted by permission of New World Library, Inc.  All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. HTML and web pages copyright © by SpiritSite.com.
 

"Hope is the divine motivator."

   Bernie Siegel, 365 Prescriptions for the Soul, Part 2

Prescription #28
Hope

"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

Hope restores us. What each of us hopes for will differ and change with time. I believe we need hope to go on living. Hope inspires us to reach for the future. It gives us something to look forward to and strive for on our path.

If we had no hope — for a cure, for winning the lottery, for falling in love, for the end of war, for being free of abuse, or for having food, warmth, clothing, and shelter — we would have no reason to go on. What you hope for doesn’t matter, but rather the essence of hope itself.

I see people who die a few minutes after a doctor tells them there is no hope of a cure. They give up and go. Others get angry and find joy in proving the doctor wrong. Something within them is challenged and hopeful. Hope is the divine motivator.

Soulution of the Day

Allow the bird of hope to perch on a branch of the tree of life and never stop singing.

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