Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “hope”
@bethvogt When I was a child and had trouble falling asleep because I’d had a bad dream, my mom would sit beside my bed and comfort me by telling me to think nice thoughts. I’d remember swimming in the lake in Vermont during a family vacation. Or winning the class spelling bee. Or playing outside in the rain with the …
Has your life ever not gone according to your plans? Some of you are thinking, “Really, Beth? You’re asking me that?” Life rarely goes according to our plans. We all experienced the upheaval of the COVID pandemic in 2020, and we’re still affected by it just over a year later. The life we plan for ourselves gets derailed by all …
@bethvogt I’m determined to choose hope even as I struggle to comprehend another senseless act of violence, this time in Boulder, Colorado. Is there an act of violence that ever makes sense? My husband Rob and I spent a long weekend in Minnesota, visiting our youngest daughter whose spring break morphed into a volleyball pre-season. Good days. Good conversations. Lots …
@bethvogt The subject of resilience came up last weekend during a text conversation with my friend Bernadette. We were discussing how a year has passed since COVID upended our lives. One whole year. Also, like so many others, Bernadette and I are walking through grief because family members died during the pandemic. “I don’t know about you, but I feel …
@bethvogt This was my friend Jenny’s text to me yesterday morning at 6:12 a.m.: In life, and perhaps you overcame this, who did you believe you had to be accepted and/or approved by? By the way, good morning. My reply: Oh my word! Do you want an alphabetical list? Jenny and I have conversations like this. All the time. Sometimes …
@bethvogt Sometimes our well-thought-out plans don’t work. Frustrating, isn’t it? Last year wasn’t a great writing year for me. Too many disruptions meant very little creative writing. I spent some time evaluating what I needed to ensure I had a more productive year in 2021. Solid blocks of time. Dedicated space. No interruptions. Then I made my plan. It wasn’t …
@bethvogt Some days are going to be harder than others. Just typing that simple sentence made me feel a whole lot better. I’ve been slogging uphill against my expectations and emotions this past week. Looking back, I see reasons why the past seven days have been challenging – everything from anxiety before, during, and after some dental work, …
For all our hopes this new year would be better than the previous 12 months, the first 27 days of 2021 are disappointing. Such an understatement, right? I texted with a good friend several days ago. Normal “how’s it going” stuff. And then a little while later these words appeared on my phone screen: got some really bad news. A …
I decided to take a bye week instead of posting a blog today. For those of you who aren’t sports fans, a bye week is a term used where each team — for example, a national football team — is scheduled to have one week near the middle of the season where they do not play a game. Today is …
@bethvogt My family always packs away our Christmas decorations right after the new year. Only this year, we didn’t. My husband Rob suggested we keep our outside lights up until we no longer have to wear masks because of COVID-19. His recommendation includes the white lights on the evergreen tree in our front yard. It’s grown taller than we ever …
