Your Daily Dose of Hope

Welcome to your Daily Dose of Hope. I’m Phyllis Nichols. Today, I want to remind you of something: there is no prize for suffering. Nobody is going to hand you an award because you made something harder by refusing to ask for help. And yet, asking can be so difficult. Especially when you’re used to being the person other people lean on. The one who figures things out. The one who says, “I’ve got it,” sometimes before you’ve even considered whether you do. It can feel uncomfortable to need something. Maybe you don’t want to bother anyone. Maybe you think you should be able to handle it. Or maybe explaining what you need feels like another task when you’re already tired. I understand that. But staying stuck has a cost, too. So does trying to carry more than you have the capacity to carry right now. Sometimes another person can help us move forward in a way we simply can’t manage alone. They might have information we need. They might be able to take something off our list. Or they might listen while we say everything out loud and finally hear what’s been going around in our head. Help can look like a lot of things. And asking for it can be simple. “Could you help me think this through?” “Would you come with me?” “Can you take care of this one thing?” “I don’t need advice right now, but I would really appreciate someone listening.” You’re allowed to be specific. In fact, that often makes it easier for the other person to help. Think about how you feel when someone you care about trusts you enough to ask for support. You probably want to know. You’d probably rather have the chance to help than find out later they were struggling alone. The people who care about you may feel exactly the same way. Today, notice where you’re working awfully hard to hold everything together. Is there one part you could let someone help you carry? You can be capable and still need support. Let yourself lean a little. There’s hope in remembering that we don’t have to do all of this by ourselves.

Welcome to your Daily Dose of Hope. I’m Phyllis Nichols. My friend Nancy invited me to meet her at her family farm in Kentucky recently. It’s about a four-hour drive, and I got to stop and visit my aunt and cousin on the way. That was a lovely added bonus. There wasn’t an agenda for our time together. No project to finish. No big event. Just the chance to hang out, talk, and spend time with a friend. The farm is beautiful. And honestly, it felt like we had a two-day conversation about all kinds of things. I’m so glad she invited me. And I’m really glad I said yes. Because it’s easy to like the idea of doing something and then talk ourselves out of actually doing it, isn’t it? There’s the drive. There’s whatever needs to get done before you leave. There’s the work you could be doing if you stayed home. Even something we want to do can start to feel like one more thing to arrange. But I came home glad I had made room for it. There’s something about spending unhurried time with a friend. You get past the quick updates. You have time to follow a conversation wherever it goes. You remember something funny. You ask another question. You learn something you probably wouldn’t have gotten to in a short phone call. And being somewhere different gives you a little room to think differently, too. I don’t want every good thing in my life to depend on whether I have some leftover time. Because you know what? There usually isn’t much left over. Sometimes I need to make the space first. Maybe there’s an invitation you’ve been considering. Or someone you keep meaning to see. Maybe you could be the one to say, “Would you like to get together?” It doesn’t have to involve a farm or a four-hour drive. Coffee counts. A walk counts. Sitting on someone’s porch counts. The part that matters is giving yourself the chance to enjoy being with someone. Today, think about one thing you’d be glad you said yes to. Can you make a little room for it? There’s hope in having something to look forward to. And sometimes, it starts with saying yes.

Welcome to your Daily Dose of Hope. I’m Phyllis Nichols. My friend Donita shared something in her weekly email that I loved, and I wanted to pass it along to you. She’s a professor who really loves her work. But recently, she had a rough week. She was doing what a lot of us do when things are hard. Showing up, powering through, and trying not to let everyone see how much she was carrying. On one of those particularly hard days, a student told her that on the mornings they have class, she wakes up and announces to her roommate, “It’s Intro to Business day!” Imagine finding out that something you do is a part of someone’s day they actually look forward to. The student had no idea what kind of week Donita was having. She wasn’t trying to cheer her up. She was simply sharing how much she enjoyed the class. And it landed right where Donita needed it. Donita said she kept thinking about that moment. It made her want to be that moment for someone else. A real smile. An interested question. Taking the time to listen to the whole answer. Then she shared this line: “Kindness doesn’t need a receipt.” I love that. We don’t always get to know what happened after we offered a kind word. Did the person think about it later? Did it help them get through something? Did they tell someone else? Most of the time, we have no idea. But we can still say the thing. If you appreciate someone, tell them. If their work makes your life easier, let them know. If you look forward to seeing them, don’t assume they already know that. I think sometimes we keep those thoughts to ourselves because they seem small. Surely that person knows they’re good at what they do. Surely someone else has told them. Maybe. But today, they might need to hear it from you. Who comes to mind? Send the text. Say it on your way out. Take thirty seconds to share something kind and true. You don’t need proof that it mattered before you offer it. Let’s keep building hope, one kind word at a time.

Welcome to your Daily Dose of Hope. I’m Phyllis Nichols. When you’re going through a hard time, it can feel like nothing good will ever happen again. You might know, somewhere in the back of your mind, that things can change. But knowing that and feeling hopeful are two different things. So what do we do when hope feels far away? I want to offer three small things you can try. You don’t have to do all of them. Start with whichever one feels possible. First, make the time frame smaller. You don’t have to figure out how you’re going to get through the next six months today. What would help you get through this morning? Or the next hour? Maybe you need something to eat. Maybe you need to step outside. Maybe you need to put one difficult task aside until you’ve had some rest. Sometimes we’re trying to carry the whole future at once. It helps to come back to the part we’re actually living. Second, borrow a little hope. Reach out to someone who can listen without requiring you to put a cheerful spin on things. You can say, “I’m having a hard time, and I could use some company.” You don’t need a polished explanation. I’ve talked before about sharing hope when we have it and borrowing it when we need it. This is one of those moments when borrowing is allowed. Third, choose one helpful action. Something small that supports you or gives you a little more information. Send the email. Ask the question. Make the appointment. Let someone know what you need. The action doesn’t have to solve the whole problem to be worthwhile. And if what you can manage today is drinking some water and answering a friend’s text, let that count. I know these things won’t make every hard situation easier right away. Some things take time, and some things hurt even when we’re doing everything we can to help ourselves. But you deserve care while you’re going through them. You don’t have to feel hopeful before you take a hopeful step. For today, make the time frame smaller, let someone be with you, or choose one thing that helps. We can build from there.

At the end of a season, I can get caught up thinking about everything I didn’t do. The trip I thought we’d take. The friend I meant to see. The project I was sure I’d finish before summer ended. I can look at all the things that did happen and still find myself focused on the unfinished list. Maybe you have one of those lists, too. If something mattered to you and it didn’t happen, it’s okay to be disappointed. You don’t have to turn it into a lesson right away. But when you’re ready, you can ask yourself: Is there a piece of it I can still do? Maybe you can’t take the trip you planned, but you can spend an afternoon somewhere new. Maybe a visit with your friend has to wait, but you can call her this week. Maybe you didn’t finish the project, but you can give it a little attention today and see whether you still want to keep going. And some things won’t come with you into this season. That’s okay, too. You’re allowed to choose something different now. I find hope in remembering that an unfinished plan doesn’t mean the opportunity for joy has passed. There are still people to connect with, ideas to explore, and ordinary days that can surprise us. There is still time for something good. What might that look like for you this week? Hope shows up when we honor what is while understanding what could be. That feels like a good way to embrace today and the week ahead.