by Shannon Cohen

Hope is a force. Hope is giving yourself permission to fail, reflect, learn, and retry with no expiration date. Hope is in nature. Each intake of breath and morning’s dawn is nature’s reminder that there is hope. Each new day provides mercy, fresh perspective, grace, and untapped possibilities.

Hope is jealous. Hope needs premium mental real estate to thrive. Hope requires muting your inner critic and external sources of doubt, despair, and disbelief.

“For me, hope is confidently expecting something good despite circumstances that suggest otherwise. My hope comes from God. I focus less on what my situation currently looks like and more on what I want it to be."

-Laketa Alexander, Millennial Lifestyle Blogger and Founder of Alex Chantal

Hope is found in the eyes of our children. The color-outside-the-lines innocence of our children keeps hopelessness at bay and inspires onward movement to improve their quality of life.

Hope is in our history, ancestry and elders. Hope is found in standing on the shoulders of female trailblazers who have gone before us. Their resilience and testaments of hope embolden our own.

Hope is the fuel to our hustle. Hope is the reason we go back to school while working full-time and raising children. It's the reason we endure late nights and lean fiscal seasons to scale side hustles into flourishing enterprises. Hope fuels our discipline, commitment and resolve.

“Life has thrown a lot at me. When I was at my lowest point and had nothing else, I had hope. Hope kept me going like a light in the dark. I started using hope as an aspiration to do more. It was no longer, ‘Hope to make it.’ I stopped hoping to just survive, but using my hope to thrive! Once I embraced hope, I became fearless and a source of inspiration to others."

-Naomi Silas, Founder and Principal of Seventh Creative

Hope is a fighter. Hope may flicker or falter but doesn’t quit. Hope reminds us that we are Teflon tough, able to withstand the dings, scratches and burns of life.

Hope is the quintessential “hype-man.” Hope will have you raise the roof, jump up and down, and rock side to side believing that you are magic, your dreams are within reach, and your life is greater than your present circumstances.

We All Need Hope.

"Hope is deciding not to live in fear. It is a conscious decision made many times over to believe in all of the possibilities this life has to offer. I have lived with fear being my motivation for a lot of things in my life. When I yielded to hope is when I started doing the things I loved most, and when my career path became clear and obtainable. I won’t say I am free of all fear and only hope, but I now recognize the choice that I have in it. And most times I choose hope!”

-Jessica Smith, Owner of Ada Mae Apparel