Hopeful for the Future, Grateful for the Past

The time around Thanksgiving is always a gentle reminder of the power of gratitude and the strength in hopefulness.

I’ve heard many people lament 2019. For Share On Purpose, Inc. 2019 represented one of the most challenging periods in our company’s history. The year was just plain hard.

Interestingly enough, our culture was fortified during the most challenging periods in our company’s evolution. And 2019 was no different. Our leaders found strength they didn’t know they had and earned the leadership roles they now proudly hold.

Most of us here are chasing the biggest dream we’ve ever had, and yet this year we were pushed to our limits more than once.

But something inside of us, separately and together, encouraged us to keep going. Although we had much to fear, we always found a reason to hope.

Maybe it’s the vision we hold or the purpose behind it. Maybe’s its intuition or some other divine force. Possibly, it’s the power of perseverance deep within our soul.

Whatever it is, hopefulness is what we choose.

Hopeful is defined as “feeling or inspiring optimism about a future event” – which is how we see our company, regardless of the challenges we experience along the way.

This is important because HOPE is the key to achieving a dream. We must be inspired about a future vision, no matter what the present holds.

Most of us were taught to use external events, as an indication of success. As kids, we’ve heard questions like: “Did you win?” “Did you get an A in your test?” We’ve learned to evaluate our dreams, based on external measures of success.

This doesn’t work. To achieve a dream, we must look past our present reality to the hopefulness of that very dream, while being grateful for what is.

Because I faced extreme poverty and abuse as a child, I developed the power of hopefulness early on, which helped me to look past my immediate challenges to the sheer will to survive.

Rather than look at what was happening for hope, I learned how to shift my perspective to the dream of something different. I saw things the way I wanted them to be, rather than how they were at that moment. I learned to look for the good in everything. And… that filled me with hope.

Today, that hopefulness is now pervasive in our company culture. No matter what happens, our core leaders are able to shift their perspective to the good that can come from the challenge, rather than dwell on the challenge itself.

The truth is, we learn from each challenge we face, so difficulties are part of our growth, and part of how we achieve our dream. For Share On Purpose, challenges are simply a step on the path to reach our ultimate goal – creating a place of possibilities.

It may sound utopian to some, but it’s who we are at our core.

I was reminded of the power of choosing hope recently while watching an amazing movie, The Art of Racing in the Rain. On the surface, the movie is about a race car driver and his very special dog. However, look a little deeper, and you’ll see that the movie is really about the power to focus on what you want to create, rather than let life’s circumstances (in this case rain), control you. It’s one of the most inspiring movies I’ve seen about the power of hope.

As we near Thanksgiving, I’m most grateful for hope.

– Hope that things will improve in our nation

– Hope that there are better times ahead

– Hope that we are a beacon of “possibilities”

– Hope that we attract the best talent

– Hope for profitable growth

– Hope for powerful new concepts to launch

What are you hopeful about? What do you want to create with this life you’ve been given?

If you want to build something great, bring a spirit of hopefulness to your professional endeavors. Anyone can be critical and judgmental, but those who do great things know that hopefulness is THE attribute that produces victory.

Happy Thanksgiving. Be a beacon of hope.