This I believe.

I believe in hope.  Everyone, I believe, carries hope about something; otherwise life would be perfect in every way.  Hope can be very simple, or complex; something that will likely happen or a tiny light at the end of a tunnel that seems to keep extending, so the light may get dimmer.

5 years ago, some strange sense of hope, along with a lot of other stuff, pulled me through a bad case of depression from medications which conflicted with each other.  With a lot of help, I overcame it.

I hoped, and hope now, that others don't have to experience anything like that.  I hope our mental health system improves.  Even stronger, I hope that the stigma of mental illness goes away, so people are not afraid to seek help.  That hope is one of those where the tunnel seems to keep extending itself, and the light at the end appears daunting and dim.

I hoped I could physically improve from what MS had done to me.  When the light at the end of that tunnel seemed almost gone, overnight I started taking Ampyra and have been physically improving for over 2.5 years.  Today, with some help, I walked up the 13 stairs at my parents' house instead of scooting on my rear.  Although so small, it was a great moment.  I will always hope I can run again.

I had a dim hope that one day I could get a Masters degree.  It took 4.5 years, but I got it.  I hope I'll be able to utilize it more some day.  That day may be close, but it's been close previously.  So I continue to hope.

There are so many things where, in a sense, I rely on hope.

I believe that the birth of Christ created a lot of hope.  Each year, we can be reminded that in the midst of complete chaos, there is always hope.

I hope for peace, in my own life, the lives of others, and the world.  I believe Christ brought a glimpse of that into the world with his birth.  In the midst of complete chaos, a beautiful child was born in a manger, there was a pause, and there was peace.

In our lives, we can pause and find the same peace, if only for a moment or so.  Those moments of peace can generate, or re-ignite, hope.

In these 12 days of Christmas, my hope is that people, including me, can find moments to experience peace, and that the peace, among so much chaos in the world, can build hope.  For me it's hope in getting rid of stigma, for continued improvement in physical abilities, for utilizing my Masters degree more, and for so many other places where there are tunnels with light at the end, sometimes near and sometimes far.

For me, there's a little baby inspiring the peace that leads to hope.

I believe in hope.

Peace.