Santa is still a bit of a mystery around our house.
We watched The Rise of The Guardians a few years back and I’m telling you, it saved Santa for our family. When I was a kid, I never believed in Santa. Never once do I remember tiptoeing downstairs to try to catch him in the act. Nope. I remember peaking around the railing to see what kinds of packages Mom and Dad were putting under the tree, but there was no hopeful anticipation of a jolly guy in a red suit bringing me things my parents wouldn’t/couldn’t/shouldn’t get.
The Rise of the Guardians is a magical show that vividly explains to kids that what you don’t believe in, and expect, can never come to be. Throughout the show as children stop believing in Santa, his magic starts to disappear. Then as one courageous little boy shares his belief with the others and the start to believe again, Santas magic begins to come back.
Even if you don’t believe in Santa, it’s a beautiful illustration of the life that is created by hope, as well as the devastation a lack of hope can bring.
Hope is such an interesting word. It has many different meanings to us even thought we use often imply them interchangeably. Sometimes we use hope to mean we are longing and expectant. Other times it’s our one last stand when we want or need something good to happen.
My good friend Merriam- Webster gives some examples:
- desire, accompanied by expectation of or belief in, fulfillment
“they leave cookies and milk with hope that Santa will enjoy them”
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a person or thing that may help or save someone.“their only hope is surgery”
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grounds for believing that something good may happen.“he does see some hope for the future”
You can see that although hope is always about believing in what might happen, isn’t always used in a positive way. If your only hope is surgery, that’s not at all the same as a having a desire with expectation that it will be fulfilled, like children who leave cookies and milk for Santa. One use of the word is driven by fear and one is driven by trust or belief.
Guess what makes the difference?
Expectation.
It’s all about what you expect and believe will happen. What are you expecting these days? What are you hoping for?
Only you can decide if you will accompany your desires with belief that they will be fulfilled or doubt that they will come true.
My hope is that you’ll add some expectation to your hope today. 😉
Hope is a beautiful thing.
to more love,
Crystal
