A question came to mind regarding hope.

You know, sadly, things are set up for seniors to feel hopeless. I've been disabled since I was 24. You dont get to save money on disability fpr retirement. And I got just over too much for medicaid. Don't get me wrong. I have medigap. Expensive and a privilege to able to afford it. And always grateful. I can see the flaws and feel gratitude at the same time. 🙌🏻

So, at 69, joints needing replaced and CRPS spreads, and only medicare, I can only get home help if I pay $40+ an hour. People in charge don't think about us being on the same sheets for 6 months. No vacuuming, washing kitchen floor, moving laundry from the washer to the dryer. Council on aging told me they would only come to bathe me. Does congress realize they are telling seniors they have to be willing to get naked in front of any stranger, male or female, alone in your home, within 5 minutes of thrm walking in the door. Do seniors get to have no pride. No safety. I asked "so as lkng as I'm clean, you don't care if I've esten. His response was a sharp "thats correct." (Turns out locally they lost the grant for mismanagement. People died because of them refusing help.

But they want us to feel hopeful? I've decided "age in place" means ask your daughter. I don't have children (I DO have a cat lol!)

Anyway, I have faith in my own resilience. My own strength. Faith is inside. Nobody can steal that from us. For me, hope reaches outward and depends alot on others. Its harder as we age and oir retirement goes less and less far as the minimum wage increases. We don't increase except to barely cover medicare, part D, medigap yearly increases. Raiding the minimum wage is important but it leaves seniors and disabled further in the dust.
Rant over. I don't hear people talking about us tho. I hear "middle class" a lot. The disabled and too many seniors are far from middle class.

Ok. Thanks for the opportunity to digress - tho it is about how hard it is to maintain hope in todays world.

Do get me wrong, I'm very grateful for SSA. Without it, I and many would be homeless. Or living in a hospital bed preventing others from getting surgery right. No long term thinking.

Definitely he is depressed and I don’t really know how to handle someone else’s depression. So I remain hopeful that he will get what he needs.

I was so happy to read your reply. I am 61 but with MS i feel like i'm much older many days. Having said that, three years ago we left south florida when my husband retired and moved to NW Georgia where we bought a farmhouse on acreage and have started a horse rescue...my lifetime dream. Of course I need much help doing this and the days are very long (and this time of year way too hot), but little by little I feel better, stronger and more hopeful:)

Feeling hopeless, or in my case also feeling useless, is detrimental in so many ways. I can go down a rabbit hole fast and find myself staying there if Im not careful, so I do understand. I hope and pray you are able to find reasons to be hopeful and to look forward to each new day.

Joybo-
I just got a copy of Dacher Keltner's new book _Awe_.
He feels Awe is a major emotion which provides richness to our lives, going beyond just a matter-of-fact life experience.
This could be in response to major life events, or a deep moment of wonder looking at a glass of water or other daily miracles, realizing how life is made of these "common" things.
I think this sense of awe may be what you and I are more likely to feel instead of "Hope."
[I'm in awe of the services of our public library, too!!!]

Do you think you have to want some thing to have hope? I don’t mean wanting one specific thing, but sort of that you might want to see the sunshine (soon), or want to live longer, or want to hear music. Then you can feel hopeful that might happen in your near future,
That’s a difference I see about joy and hope. Joy is a feeling about an experience. Hope is a feeling about the future - and it requires one to WANT to experience the future. To not want to have good experiences might sound like depression. But I don’t think it is.

I’ve been sitting here pretty much reading these postings from first to last. I see some books I want to read, and there have been provoking comments worth reflecting on. And I have thoughts.

There is a spark of life that I’ve come to believe some people were born with more, and some with less. For me it’s not lack of trying that has made me less hopeful. I certainly have gratitude and recognize the many gifts that have been given me. I find great joy with my grandchildren, and enjoy tai chi. I interact with others and give assistance often. But that spark. That hopefulness? I struggle with that.

I have been on antidepressants twice and I have felt a lifting of heaviness. But pushing through that weight is really not a problem, I can do that - it’s the spark. For me, I think it’s caused environmentally - that lack of hopefulness. I can clearly remember at age 9 of thinking there is no happily ever after - and that wasn’t a thought that just popped into my head, but one that was based on experience. Over time, and with distance from those years, it was more clear how my life’s outlook developed.

I’m not trying to say, woe is me. But giving you, perhaps, a different view of how someone may be feeling about life. Maybe acceptance that we’re all so different in so many ways. And, maybe you have thoughts about my post?

@triciaot
I believe all of us experience hope, love, joy , fear , life , in different ways. My hope is that all of us allow the creator of hope the opportunity to complete HIS work through us.

@triciaot
I believe all of us experience hope, love, joy , fear , life , in different ways. My hope is that all of us allow the creator of hope the opportunity to complete HIS work through us.