Hope Quilt Block — Women’s Health & Wellness
– Helen Keller
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
How can hope improve our health & wellness? Let’s talk about it!
– Martin Luther King
“Everything that is done is this world is done by hope.”
Hope Quilt Block
The Hope Quilt block is designed to look like radiating light and goodness. Check out the quilted back of the Hope Quilt Block (see below) to see the radiating layers.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”– Desmond Tutu
Wouldn’t you like an endless supply of hope? Each one of us is unique. Our hope comes from many different sources. Let’s take a look at what builds hope. How is your hope built? Fundamentally hope comes from experiences, principles, beliefs and faith. Let’s dive in a little bit deeper into these thoughts.
What Builds Hope?
Hope is built from our faith, beliefs, experiences, expectations, principles and culture raised in. Our expectations and goals are also connected to hope.
There are many layers of our hope and components we can use to build our hope. Components of Hope could be faith, belief, principles & goal based. Let’s review each component.
- Faith that comes from our religious beliefs, scriptures or personal strength.
- Belief in science or physics to have hope that your plane is not going to crash.
- Expectations and goals are connected to hope too.
- Principles that you believe in… For instance, you might have faith in government principles or democracy that through time things will be made right.
Hope, Expectations & Dreams
Let’s step back to expectations. When I was facing divorce, my soul was filled with disappointment. I carefully realigned my expectations that a marriage can’t always be expected to last a lifetime. It was okay to be divorced and there were no guarantees. I started realigning my expectations to build new dreams for my future and future of my boys. Does it make sense that expectations are tied to hope? A child living in Africa has different expectations and dreams from an individual living somewhere else. Sometimes we need to realign those expectations or dreams. When I was going through my divorce, I had hope in the education that I had acquired that I could take care of myself and my boys. I reassured myself that it was okay to be alone than to be with someone that didn’t want to be with me. I had hope in who I was and knowing that my future at the time was uncertain but that I would be able to get through it with inspiration from God.
Reconnecting with Nature
Reconnecting with nature can build hope. Look up and breathe in the air. Don’t focus on the storm but look through the clouds into the sunshine. Allow the sunshine to brighten your face. How do you feel when you happen upon a rainbow? Our earth is a magnificent place to be but we need to open our eyes to the beauty and the bounty. There is strength and hope that can be pulled from a stream of rushing water or the smells of a forest. No matter where you live there is hope to draw from nature. For instance, sitting on a beach, wiggling your toes into the sand, hearing the sounds of the waves lapping on the shore all comes from a larger and bigger source that we can draw from.
Knowing You Can Do Hard Things
Just knowing that you can do hard things can bring hope. Here is my husband Cory trying to ride an unicycle from his middle school years. He has hope he can make that unicycle work now. See him concentrating and bringing back the older muscle memory. Just a moment ago holding on to the bridge with uncertainty.
Can you see the joy he feels as he is making the Unicycle work? Cory won’t forget the feeling of joy right? He especially won’t if he journals this experience to prompt these memories. I made the analogy of the unicycle, but of course we can apply this to any aspect of our lives. Journal hard things that you have accomplished. Be sure to add what helped you accomplish those hard things.
When a hard time hits our cute little family, I have hope that I’ve already been through difficult times and confidence that I will be able to find the strength and inspiration to get through this next adventure.
Symbols of Hope
What symbols of hope do you have? Symbols of hope might include a sunrise, rainbow, babies, cross, scriptures, dove, nature. I also have hope in my heritage. My mother passed away but I can feel her strength. I have pieces of her jewelry that I love to wear to remind me of her strength in life and her love for me. Those same items of hers bring me hope to know I have the grit and DNA to be just as strong as she is. I draw strength from the Live Well Live Strong Quilt and all the thing it represents. Write down all your symbols of hope.
Build Hope by Looking at things One Step at a Time
Sometimes hope can be drowned out by overwhelm. I get caught up looking at the huge mountain I need to climb. When looking at the entire mountain, I feel crippled that I can’t possibly do what is expected of me. Overwhelm is crippling right?
An example of this in my life can be taking care of my disabled son Luke. Luke can out live me. Luke has what is called Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. It causes tumors to grow throughout his body including brain, heart, eyes, kidney and skin. It causes other disorders like epilepsy, autism, developmental delay, mental health issues and more. It’s endless as it involves every organ system of the body. I worry about how he can take care of himself if I am not alive. I worry about his acute care and long term care. It is a lifelong chronic illness. I’ve seen other families have to place their adult children in residential facilities.
If I think about every aspect of a problem at once it can be crippling. The crippling feeling chokes my hopefulness. When I feel that crippling overwhelm, I put on the brakes! In fact, I’ll quickly correct myself and slam on the brakes. I put myself in reverse and not look at the huge mountain to climb but focus on a few steps or section at a time. If you are hiking a mountain, it takes one step at a time. Just one step and keep putting those feet one in front of another. Afterwards, notice and absorb all the beauty of the moment! Enjoy the smells, listen to the noises and absorb the goodness around you. Laugh out loud and feel carefree as you take such simple steps. The small actions taken and your progress will refuel your hope that it’s not so bad and you can do this. Taking things day by day or moment by moment eliminates the overwhelm.
I look at what I need to tackle that week or day. Grapple with what I have to do hopefully with a bit of a spring in my step. Admire the beauty or people around me and appreciate the tender mercies that come along my path. Write down the tender mercies that come your way even if you only put it as a note in your phone. When you feel overwhelmed reread the tender mercies that have come your way and have confidence that more will come. These tender mercies will remind you that you are NOT alone. Your overwhelm turns to confidence and then hope. Hope that you can do hard things one step at a time.
Hope Can be Found in Unexpected Spaces
Remember that hope can be found in the most unexpected of spaces! We just need to look harder! Check out this giant graffiti wall. It’s beautiful with the Live Well Live Strong Quilt! When something difficult or ugly comes your way look harder and find the beauty and blessings from it. Hope can come by knowing there is a purpose in our struggles throughout humanity. We learn and grow in way that we couldn’t have learned without the struggle.
Keep your eye out for hope from unexpected spaces. Just because something doesn’t look quite right, if we use a different lens or perspective we can find beauty and gratitude. Someone very unexpected may reach out to you. You may see something and feel inspired. You may learn something that builds your character and grow. Take your blinders off and seek hope. Search out the goodness in every situation.
Look Up for Hope
Look up for Hope. Sometimes we keep our heads & hearts down and don’t look up often enough.
Seek out the sunshine shining through the clouds. Look up to higher places. Often when we are overwhelmed, we keep our heads down and feel dull. Look up and seek positive things to fill our space and life. Be optimistic and hope will flow. There are so many hope builders. Keep reading as we will talk about more of them below.
“Everything that is done in this world is done by hope.
– Martin Luther
Keep Moving Forward for Hope
Keep your momentum moving forward too!
Keep your regular routines going by doing things and interacting with others. I knew a man that just lost his wife, but at Sunday Services right after the funeral. He privately shared that keeping his life routines helped him feel normal within a new set of circumstances. Despite our pain we need to keep our momentum going forward. Momentum brings hope from the energy it brings!
Hope from Random Acts of Kindness
When someone does something kind, it just feels so good and builds hope in humanity! Doesn’t an unexpected smile or kind gesture feel good. Years ago, I had a crazy day of running errands returning items at various stores. I’m horrible at returning things! I let them pile up, then do them all in one day. (Bad idea right?) I ran to the last store of the day for returns and discovered that the cash I had gotten back was no longer in my back pocket! This was a tough time of life as I was processing some bad news. I remember feeling depleted seeing all the time spent and money wasted because I had been negligent in putting things away properly! I was bummed out and it was a lot of cash.
Then when I went out to my car, I found a note folded up in the car door handle. I pulled out the note and discovered there was all the missing cash wrapped inside of the note. The note said, “Found this blowing around right near your car! :)” There was ALL of the cash I had lost! A kindhearted person found my money, rolled it up in a hand written note to tuck into the handle of my car. How did she know it was my cash? I was completely stunned. I felt buoyed up that I wasn’t alone in the world. My hope returned and I started thinking about good things. My hope in humanity and goodness within the souls of others returned. Do random acts of kindness lift up your soul and help you feel hope? Check out the video above that I shared that day on my Instagram. The kind person was anonymous and I had no way to thank her but felt the need to share the good vibes.
“I dwell in possibility.”
Emily Dickinson
Hope from Acts of Service
Performing acts of service can bring you hope. As you enter the world of another you release your worries. You see others struggling in ways you are not. When you reach out to help another, hope is built within you and into their souls too. Does doing or receiving acts of service help build your hope?
In college, I was perplexed about a situation. I called my mom that lived in another state. She immediately told me, to get out of my apartment to do service for another and that things would feel better. I did as she suggested. I don’t even remember what service I had rendered, I don’t remember what I was upset about but I profoundly remember that it worked and immediately called her to tell her. I still remember that feeling and carry that knowledge forward knowing that as I enter the world of others my world disappears.
Activity & Nature Build Hope
Get outside to feel the sunshine. Being active builds hope. Enjoy nature and our animals! All of these things build hope. What else builds hope for you? Being active reduces stress. Being active distracts our brains and worries. Being active and distracted helps us think of solutions or approaches to our struggles. I have hope that when I’m struggling that being active can be part of the solution.
If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.
Henry David Thoreau
Hope from Children
I love to watch small children. I love to hold my granddaughter and think of the hope her life will bring. No matter what stress I may be feeling, my heart just melts studying this new life. I also feel hope watching my children grow up to develop the natures they have and desire to be good people to serve others. But oh the hope of being around such innocent sweet children. An entire world and treasure will unfold before them. New life is inspiring and makes me feel good.
Let’s focus on Hope. Write on the Hope Quilt Block things that help you improve hope in your life. Write on the grayed out areas on the worksheet things that deplete your hope.
Download your Hope Worksheets below and work through exercises as you focus on making your Hope Quilt Block this week!
If you haven’t yet, you can join in anytime on the Live Well Live Strong Quilt Sew Along! Purchase your downloadable pattern right now!
Hope Challenges could include:
- Identify what hope symbols or items resonate with you.
- Identify hope sources that sing to your soul.
- Identify the beliefs and principles that buoy up your hope.
- Practice Random Acts of Kindness to others to buoy up their hope.
- Lean into your hope, faith and optimism knowing that things will work out for the BEST.
“Once you choose hope anything’s possible. “
Christopher Reeve
Notice the tulip bulbs around this Hope Quilt Block!! Did you know that tulip bulbs NEED cold in order to bloom in the spring? Life can get tricky sometimes but we need the cold in order to bloom with our brightest colors!
Have hope that stressful times are needed to become the people we are meant to be. When we plant a seed and nurture the seed properly we know it will grow.
Hope through Faith
There is Hope through our faith too! My personal faith is a very deep part of my life. I’m trying to keep this blog post neutral to anyone’s faith in God. My faith strengthens me and brings hope into life from the belief in unseen things. Pull hope from your faith. Dig deep into your faith and maintain it for a solid foundation when rocky times hit.
I personally am a Christian. I wanted to share a quick thought. When Luke was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis at 6 months of age. I was filled with personal sorrow. I researched everything about the disease, the thoughts of how it would impact his life then see him or other children suffer was overwhelming. I knelt in prayer, praying to my Heavenly Father for Luke not to suffer. I felt ashamed though… really ashamed asking God that my son not suffer. It felt so awkward asking this when God’s own son, Jesus Christ, and suffered on earth. Not just his son, but biblical prophet also suffered greatly on earth. I thought who was I to expect my own child, or myself, to go through life without adversity or pain? Who was I to think that my son would be exempt from suffering. I didn’t want Luke to suffer by any means. My prayers changed though. Luke had a genetic disorder that I knew could not go away. I still prayed for Luke but my prayers changed. They changed to accept God’s will in our lives and rise to the occasion to learn what He intended me to learn, be better a person and closer to Him. I don’t wish for Luke to suffer but I know all human suffering can not be avoided. So instead I prayed for the inspiration to take care of Luke in the best way possible. To improve his outcome and quality of life with his care and education. To help not just Luke but others and to serve the tuberous sclerosis community. God has answered those prayers and as I submitted to God’s will, I certainly have been molded to hopefully become the person he intends me to be. My prayers have been answered in that Luke does enjoy a quality of life that he might not have enjoyed from quality care.
Now you may not be of a Christian faith but you can change this story to apply within your faith. You may not be religious, but we can find purpose in anything we experience. I just know that my hope is deeply connected to my faith and I am certain that yours is too. If your religious faith is a source of hope for you then build on that foundation on a regular basis to draw so it is strong when inevitable times hit. I know my religious belief & faith become a healing oil & save that keeps me going and brings inspiration to know what I need to do. Each one of us is so unique though. Remember we all have intuition and should listen to our intuition whether we have religious faith or not.
“The oil of hope makes life’s machinery run smoothly.”
– James Lendall Basford
Hope from Knowing of other People Did Hard Things
The first time I read Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankel, I was in high school. Viktor’s shared his story of being a prisoner in Auschwitz Camps. Prior to the war, he was a psychologist, so his observations of how people survived and where they found hope was so insightful to me. There are many things to glean from this book, but I learned that my attitude and how I perceived a situation was very powerful. I truly recommend this book to anyone!
When we learn the stories or watch others go through difficult times, their experiences can give us hope and help us build skills to find hope in the darkest of places. Some of those stories can come from our own family history or world history.
Hope Building Actions
Make a list of Hope Building Actions that you can pull from when you need to build your hope. Each one of us is very unique in terms of our cultural and religious beliefs. Ponder on ways to build hope from external inspiration, practicing Internal beliefs, service or through journaling and reflection. Use the Hope worksheets to build this list. Journal your Hope building Actions in a special place so you can pull them out in times of need and don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time. You know yourself intimately well and use that knowledge.
There are so many different ways to build hope in our lives. We need to realize that there are many sources that can build hope. Remember hope comes from the beliefs we have in principles, nature, faith, expectations and goals.
Please email me and let me know what moves you to have hope. What is your story? What are your sources of hope? What Hope Building Actions restore you? I will love to add more to my own personal list. Please share with me… You can email me at: deanna@stitchesquilting.com.
Join the in the Live Well Live Strong Sew Along to inspire others & be inspired
Share a photo of your completed Hope Quilt Block in the Everyone Can Quilt Facebook Group or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stitchesquilting/ and use the hashtag #livewelllivestrongquilt. If you feel comfortable share a photo that represents a positive step with Hope. Let’s inspire each other!
Follow Stitches Quilting on Facebook, Instagram & YouTube for reminders to find the positive in life. Engage and make comments that can lift and give hope. Comments on other people’s posts in the Live Well Live Strong Sew Along to encourage them too.
| The Live Well Live Strong Quilt includes 26 quilt blocks focused on Women’s Health in Wellness. The ideal form is to focus & build on each one of these topics is one at a time. Slow and steady growth is sustainable. Join the sew along at any time making each block and focusing on your own growth. |
Yes You Can do it! Yes you can when you know what you need to strengthen yourself. Tap into safety that can slowly and surely strengthen you with a solid foundation to lean upon.
Next week’s block is the Shine Quilt Block! If you haven’t yet, purchase your Live Well Live Strong Quilt Pattern! Purchase Your Pattern HERE!
Watch the Safety Quilt Block video above!
Many happy wishes for a week filled with Safety!
Live Well Live Strong! XOXO! Deanna
