Walking for and with Hope

Listen to the mustn'ts, child

Listen to the don'ts

Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts 

Listen to the never haves

Then listen close to me

Anything can happen, child

Anything can be

Shel Silverstein

What is hope?  

According to Wikipedia, it is an emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life.  To cherish a desire with anticipation.  

It is said that the concept of hope can be found as early as in Greek Mythology.  Prometheus stole fire from Zeus.  Zeus, being the BMOC (Big Man on Campus), was very upset.  To retaliate, he sent down a jar filled with all manner of evil.  Then Pandora, despite being told not to open the jar, opened it.  All of the evil escaped into this world.  Hope was caught on the lip of the jar and Pandora closed the lid before it could come out.  

So, you may think of Pandora as being an internet radio station but in reality Pandora started out in mythology as a curious person who let evil loose in the world.  

To me, one example of hope is the over 1,000 people who have signed up to walk for the Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes on October 20th in Chicago.  

You see, those walking live in hope for a cure for this disease.  They live in hope that the funds raised will make lives better.  

We will be walking along the lakefront in Chicago enjoying the fresh air and sunshine (another hope).  Just imagine the spirit of a crowd all believing in one goal and being willing to work toward that goal by raising funds for research. I have confidence that the atmosphere will be happy and enthusiastic.  It will be a fun place to be.   

If you would like to join us, please do.  We welcome you.  If you are not in the Chicago area but would like to walk, please check out when the walk will be in your area and sign up.  You can check for a local walk at 

http://stepout.diabetes.org/site/PageServer?pagename=OUT_homepage.

Thanks for reading!