There are any number of people who wake up daily with no hope. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, no friends to support them in the hard times, no family to hold them up when things go awry. Sometimes it truly is that they lack those elements in their lives. Sometimes it’s a situation of their own making. Do you know someone who is living hopeless? Someone who goes from day to day drowning in life’s troubles? Do you know anyone that you can encourage and lend hope to?

I was born into a household with alcoholism, physical and sexual abuse, and neglect. When I was around 5 years old, I tried to run away. I can remember two specific failed attempts but there may have been others. It still amazes me that my 5 year old self was more afraid of the inside of the house than what was outside. And I thank God that I never succeeded at running away. Can you imagine? Even in 1976, a child alone on the streets would not have found herself in any good situation. I would have gone from the frying pan into the fire. And had I succeeded, I never would have made it into a better situation. That better situation presented itself when I was 6. I had an aunt and uncle who recognized what was going on and convinced my biological father to sign me over in guardianship (to avoid charges) and we moved out of state.

That aunt and uncle kept me, fed me, clothed me, cared for me. They made me safe. They made me FEEL safe. I got to grow up with their children and I learned how not to live in fear. But more than that, they gave me hope. I discovered I didn’t have to hide somewhere and be quiet. There was no reason for me to be afraid to be noticed. They made me feel safe. They made me part of the family. My aunt, who I call Mom, counseled me and opened the door for me to talk to her. She also encouraged me (when I was a little older) to start a journal. They let me see that life didn’t have to be the way it used to. That I could look forward to things and not be afraid of people. I still tend to be introverted and shy. Sometimes it’s hard for me to meet new people. But if they hadn’t been the patient, loving people they were, you would never have heard from me.

My life hasn’t been easy by any stretch of the imagination. Just because I was rescued from that situation doesn’t mean I still haven’t endured other hardships. But that is life. No one has an easy path. It’s all struggle to the person living it. I can’t hear someone else’s story and think “that’s all you had to deal with?” Because to them, that hardship was huge. For that person, that one thing was just as major as my struggle was to me. No one gets out of life easy. You can’t look at some person you don’t know and assume that they are living free of trouble. Their trouble doesn’t look like your trouble, but that doesn’t make it trouble-free for them. So when you see that person who looks like they have it all together, and they are griping about something that seems ridiculous, try some patience. Try some compassion.

Consider this person: You are standing in line in the grocery store. Maybe you are the third, fourth, or possibly fifth person in line. The lady checking out has coupons and she’s going ballistic because an item she’s trying to buy isn’t the same as the one on the coupon. Almost, but not quite. So she’s losing it. She’s screaming at the cashier and wants her savings and isn’t concerned in the least that she’s holding up the line for 15 cents. The others in line are getting mad at her. The cashier has called the manager. There is a collective groan from the patrons in the store. The manager gives her the 15 cents (maybe, maybe not) and sends her on her way. Everyone else is just relieved she’s left the line, and the store.

When she gets outside and into her car, she breaks down. Her world is unraveling before her eyes. She was threatened with the loss of her job because she’s taken off so much work lately. She has taken off from work so much because her husband has a terminal illness and the hospital sent him home today with no expectation of seeing him again. She has no food in the house because she has spent the last few weeks at the hospital whenever she wasn’t at work. So she came to the store, trying to make what few dollars she has count. And the coupon was wrong. It was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back. Everyone else in the store only saw a temper tantrum from a woman old enough to know better. But her world is unraveling. And she was grasping at the strings trying to hold it together. Trying to take back some of the control of her circumstances.

I’m just as guilty as the next person of getting upset with a woman like that. But I do try to give that person the benefit of the doubt. For one thing, life is too short to be so worked up about those few minutes I waited. And more importantly, my patience and compassion in that situation could have saved her life. At the very least, it could have been an offering of hope. A “hey, you aren’t alone in this” moment of support. We all need that, at one time or another.

People today need hope. We need to offer it. If it’s the lady in the checkout line, the man at the gas pump, the waitress who messed up your order, the cashier who got your change wrong, it doesn’t matter. They need the smile, the patience, the encouragement that it will eventually be okay.

There are any number of people who wake up daily with no hope. So do you know someone who is living hopeless? Someone who goes from day to day drowning in life’s troubles? Do you know anyone that you can encourage and lend hope to?