Never Give Up Hope

Hope

Simon hesitated and then said…..”I would like our finished product to be their life guide, a beacon of hope perhaps, a set of directions that will guide them through the darkness for the rest of their lives. “

“I would like the readers to be able to digest our entire message quickly, and I would like them to read it every morning, without fail, before commencing their day’s activities. Knowing how difficult things can be in the morning, but also how important one’s first waking hour is, try to write it so that it can be read in six minutes or less. Also be certain they understand that it must be read every morning and that if they do, their lives will eventually change for the better beyond their wildest dreams.”

So were the directions of Simon Potter to Og Mandino in the last few days of his life. They were writing a masterpiece. A book to catch those of us caught in despair and hopelessness. A ten commandments of life as it were. And it went like this.

“For the Rest of My Life. . .

For the rest of my life there are two days that will never again trouble me.

The first day is yesterday with all its blunders and tears, its follies and defeats. Yesterday has passed forever beyond my control.

The other day is tomorrow with its pitfalls and threats, its dangers and mystery. Until the sun rises again, I have no stake in tomorrow for it is still unborn.

With God’s help and only one day to concentrate all my effort and energy on, this day, I CAN WIN! Only when I add the burden of those two frightening eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, am I in danger of faltering under the load. Never again! This is my day! This is my only day! Today is all there is! Today is the rest of my life and I resolve to conduct myself through every waking hour in the following manner. . .

For the rest of my life, this very special day, God help me. . .

. . . to heed the wise advice of Jesus and Confucius and Zoroaster and treat everyone I meet, friend or foe, stranger or family, as I would want them to treat me.

. . . to maintain a rein on my tongue and my temper, guarding against foolish moments of fault-finding and insults.

. . . to greet all those I encounter with a smile instead of a frown, and a soft word of encouragement instead of disdain or even worse, silence.

. . . to be sympathetic and attentive to the sorrows and struggles of others, realizing that there are hidden woes in every life no matter how exalted or lowly.

. . . to make haste to be kind to all others, understanding that life is too short to be vengeful or malicious, too soon ended to be petty or unkind.

For the rest of my life, this very special day, God help me . . .

. . . to keep reminding myself that in order to harvest more ears of corn in the fall, I must plant more kernels in the spring.

. . . to understand that life always rewards me on the terms that I establish and if I never perform or deliver more than that for which I am paid, never will I have reason to demand or expect any additional gold.

. . . to always deliver more than is expected of me, whether at work, or play, or at home.

. . . to labor with enthusiasm and love, no matter what the task or hand may be, realizing that if I cannot secure happiness out of my work I will never know what real happiness is.

. . . to endure at my chosen work even after others have ceased their labor, for now I know that the angel of happiness and the pot of gold awaits me only at the end of the extra mile that still lies ahead.

For the rest of my life, this very special day, God help me. . .

. . . to set goals to be accomplished before the day has ended, for now I know that to drift aimlessly from one hour to the next leaves me with only one destination, the port of misery.

. . . to realize that no path to success is too long if I advance bravely and without undue hast, just as there are no honors too distant if I prepare myself for them now with patience.

. . . to never lose faith in a brighter tomorrow, for I know that if I continue to knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, I am certain to arouse someone.

. . . to repeatedly remind myself that success always has its price and that I must be willing to balance its joys and rewards against the precious piece of my life I must always exchange to achieve it.

. . . to hold fast to my dreams and my plans for a better life because if I relinquish them, although I still might exist, I will have ceased to live.

For the rest of my life, this very special day, God help me. . .

. . . to strive to fulfill the best that is within me, knowing that I have no obligation to attain great wealth or success, only the obligation to be true to the highest and best I can be.

. . . to never succumb to the fear of failing, because now I shall be looking up to the goals I have not yet reached rather than peering down at the pitfalls that always threaten me.

. . . to embrace adversity as a friend who will teach me far more about myself than any joyful run of success and good fortune.

. . . to remember that failures, even when they occur, are only guides to success, since every discovery of what is false will lead me to seek after what is true, and every experience teaches me some form of error that shall afterward be carefully avoided.

. . . to rejoice over what I have, little though it may be, always recalling the oft told tale of the man who was sobbing because he had no shoes until, one day, he met a man who had no feet.

For the rest of my life, this very special day, God help me . . .

. . . to accept myself as I am without every allowing my conscience or sense of duty to force me to live a life’s pattern designed solely for the benefit of others.

. . . to realize that I must never accept the praise and love of people as a measure of my personal worth, since my true value depends far more on how I feel about myself and how involved I am in the world outside myself.

. . . to resist the temptation to surpass the achievements of others, since this pathetic and yet common desire is no more than a sign of insecurity and weakness and I will never be me if I allow others to set my standards.

. . . to ignite all my actions, both at work and play, with constant sparks of enthusiasm so that my excitement and zeal at whatever I am doing will subdue all difficulties that might otherwise slow my progress.

. . . to remember that I must pay the price in time and energy in order to increase my worth, for only fools stand idly by and wait for success to arrive, and now I know that the only chance to start at the top is in digging a hole.

For the rest of my life, on this day of days, God please help me . . .

. . . to do unto others as I would have them do unto me, to give more of myself, every hour, than is expected, to set goals and hold fast to my dreams, to search for the good in every adversity that befalls me, to perform all my duties with enthusiasm, and love and, above all, to be myself.

Please help me to accomplish these goals, my special friend, so that I may become a rag picker of value, laboring in your name with renewed strength and wisdom to rescue others as you have rescued me. And above all, please remain close to me, through all of this day . . . ”

Simon, the self proclaimed rag-picker, set his life’s goal as helping human’s who found themselves on life’s refuse pile. This message was the distillation of his life’s wisdom, published in 1992 by Og Mandino as The Return of the Ragpicker.

I picked up his book for .25 cents at the local library sale last weekend. Mr. Simon’s words caught my attention. I felt his deep humility and desire to help humankind. He was 92 at his passing. He lamented what we were doing to our world in 1992 – yet he never gave up hope. No matter what is happening, never give up hope.

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[tag]hope,faith[/tag]