"If you have just a little bit of hope left you can make great strides in your life."

-Theo Fleury

I sat mesmerized as I listened to Theo recount his story.   He told me of how he had been hiding the tale of his being abused from more than twenty years and what a burden it had placed on his whole life.  He said, "Even though I had been successful player in the NHL I couldn't bear to live with this secret."  But, he was been able to change this through the use tools that are often overlooked in our society today.

He told me that just when he thought all was lost, that his life was over because he was going to end it, he called out in prayer.  As he did so he received a peaceful reassurance that if he would allow just a little bit of hope to radiate from his heart that he could regain his life and have happiness again.  With a desperate commitment to cling to this new particle hope he began to take small steps that would allow his hope to grow until his glimmer of hope became a fortress of faith.

Most of us can remember times when our faith and our hope seemed to have abandoned us.  I know I have had such times.  There have been many of us, who having faced such moments, have become broken and defeated.  And to anyone who is in such a position it will be helpful to know that at least one person has shown the rest of us the path to victory.  It is the path of hope, based upon the notion of human resilience.

Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from setbacks, the ability to spring back quickly into shape after being stretched.  Life is designed to stretch each one of us.  It is a learning ground.  We are not meant to glide through life without challenge and growth.  And here's what I've learned through observation and living; through sailing along and as well as feeling like too little butter being spread over too much toast.

Personal resilience seems to be one of the great separators in life.  Those who keep showing up each day to face life's challenges find success, peace and happiness.  In other words, if you can develop the trait of resilience in your life you will be well served.  You will understand that what happened yesterday is not what will happen today; the pieces of the puzzle that baffled you in your past will present themselves in the different light of today and tomorrow.  I call this the "Sun Cycle Principle."

The sun rises each day and allows us to begin the morning with its rays of hope as we venture into living.  Some days will shine brightly and others will feel gloomy and hard.  But, each day, no matter what its course, comes to an apparent end with the setting of the sun.  Yet, there is no victory of darkness!  The sun rises in triumph again to usher in hope and a model of resilience to all who will receive it.  Let this be your symbol of hope and beacon of encouragement in times of challenge and you'll always be living in the brightness of a well lived life.