Andrew Delbanco wrote a book a year ago called The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope. In it, he says what we all know is true, that from time to time in our lives we get the feeling that all of the random experiences and sensations and events that we call our lives, don't really add up to anything. That they're just meaningless. This feels particularly true when we are struggling with difficulties and hardship.
We always live at the brink of this chasm of meaninglessness, where with just a nudge, we might tumble into melancholy and despair. "Why am I here?" "What has my life meant?"
"What's the purpose of it all?" Hope, says Delbanco, is the stories we tell that help us make meaning out of our lives. The stories that restore to us our sense of purpose and worth, and make our life worth living again.
Tell your story. Revive your hope. Believe in the power of letting your voice be heard. Maybe it’s in a journal or a blog or an online forum or offer coffee with a friend or in church or….I don’t know. But you do. Clear your throat, raise your voice and be heard. Your story may very well comfort another to know they aren’t alone.
