Nothing Wrong With A Little Hope
Nine years ago this January, my spouse and I drove by a two-story house with a deck on the back and two giant maple trees out front and knew this would be our future home. I mean, we didn’t know know, but there was a “For Sale” sign in the yard, we had an almost two-year-old, I was pregnant with twins, and my mom lived less than half a mile away from this gem. We needed this house.
We took a tour. Made an offer. Waited. It was still the holidays and the owners were out of town. I tried to be patient. They counteroffered. We met in the middle.
Then we waited some more as inspections were done and repairs made. Meanwhile, I was put on bedrest. Not the best situation approaching a move, especially since our son Charlie, who has cerebral palsy, needed me more than ever.
But we did it. We got the house. And it felt like magic – like we had been fortune tellers and foresaw that this would be the perfect place for us at just the perfect time.
Then we moved in and built a life. However, now almost a decade later, we have outgrown that life. Charlie has a wheelchair in a two-story home that cannot accommodate a stair-lift. If we were fortune tellers, we were short-sighted ones.
Again we find ourselves cruising the neighborhoods. This time looking for a one-story, accessible home that is also zoned for where our kids attend school and where we have already assembled an amazing team of special education teachers and therapists and aides. We have a new set of wishes and I find myself equally desperate and determined as I was the first time.
Isn’t that how every New Year’s resolution starts – with desperation and determination? We evaluate our lives and decide what is lacking and then we…go for it. The turning over of a year is a fresh start and it lays bare what we have been missing, or at least what we think we have been missing. So we make a prediction that whatever change we pin our hopes on will set our lives on a steady, happy course. We are fortune tellers peering into our own future saying, “Ahhh yes, I see good tidings in your future if you are willing to take the risk.”
New Year’s resolutions get a lot of flack, but I would argue that there’s nothing wrong with a little hope this January, or ever. Be a fortune teller. Let yourself imagine something you did not think possible. Then strive for it. Run at it like you know it is meant to be. If it doesn’t work out or if priorities and life shift, there’s always a chance to start again – next January, maybe. The point is to squint into the future with optimism. That’s what keeps you moving forward.
Jamie Sumner is a special needs mom and author.
Jamie-Sumner.com
Author of the middle-grade novels:
