Hope is...

hope...

is not ignoring the past,

is not running away from the pain,

is not denying no mistakes were made.

hope... 

is not being naive, 

is not being oblivious to the unanswered questions.

but hope is coming to that fork in the road...

and saying yes

to starting afresh,

to believing again,

to the possibility that tomorrow will be a better day. 

hope is trying again where you have failed,

is loving again when you have been burned,

is believing again what you have doubted. 

hope is letting go of the need to have all the answers,

to have everything tied up into pretty, controllable, understandable, tidy little packages,

and diving in and embracing the beautiful, messy, chaotic truth

that i am not done with my changes

that getting lost and finding my way back again,

that being taken apart and being put back again,

that falling and getting up again,

is part of the journey. 

and hope is saying,

i don't know if i can make it, i don't know if i have what it takes, 

but okay,

i'm ready

to begin again.