Creating some hope – Part III

When I was in fourth grade, I hated going to school. I was the kid with his head down on his desk, looking up every few minutes, praying for the clock to tick down to the end of the day. I struggled with Math and English wasn’t much better. And of course, my grades suffered.

While other kids seemed to flourish, I lagged behind. My teacher tried to encourage me. He assured me that I would eventually get the hang of it. I just needed “to keep at it.”

Some kids when they’re younger are all thumbs so-to-speak. They’re uncoordinated and all arms and legs. They just need to grow into their gangly limbs. Looking back now, I suspect I just needed to grow into my brain. I had everything I needed. I just needed to learn a few basic study skills, put in some hard work, and let time take care of itself.

When my school struggles were at their worst, there were a few things that helped encourage me and give me hope. They were small wins or surprises that got me through the immediate challenge and helped me fight another day. They included:

• The Scholastic Book Club. I’ve written about this in the past. Our teacher would send home an order form each month where you could buy relatively cheap kid’s books. My mom and dad would let me buy one book a month. I’m convinced that I became a reader because of Scholastic.
• Kickball during recess.
• Little Debbie Peanut Butter Nutty Buddy Wafer Bars. My mom put them in my lunch. While it wasn’t the healthiest of choices, it was a great end of the day treat.

• Teacher’s Treat Boxes. My teacher had a treat box. When you answered a tough question, you got to pick something from the box. There was nothing special in the box — erasers, stickers, pencils, small toys — but it made a difference.
• Social Studies. I discovered that I loved learning about history, geography, and different cultures.
• Reading on the bus. I looked forward to chilling after a long day and reading by myself.

They gave me hope. We all need a little hope in our lives. Here’s five things that give me hope now. I’m posting something that inspires me each Monday, from February 17 to March 17. Check out my list and let me know what you think. What gives you hope?

Five Things That Give Me Hope:

• Young people.
• Rudyard Kipling wrote his poem “If” in 1895. What else happened in 1895? The USS Indiana, the first battleship in the U.S. Navy, was commissioned. The first electrically operated rapid transit system in the U.S. opened in Chicago. German scientists discovered X‑rays. The poem, though, reads as if Kipling wrote it last week. The poem speaks to what it means to be a man or woman.

• Honesty. Trust. Truth. Integrity. Fairness. Authenticity.
• When life was a struggle, single father Chris Gardner, from the film, The Pursuit of Happyness, showed that anything was still possible. At his lowest, Gardner was evicted from his apartment and down to his last $21.33. Somehow, Gardner found a way to overcome, first to get a brokerage job, then later to form his own multimillion-dollar brokerage firm in 1987. He sold a stake in his firm for several million dollars in 2006. Yes, we can overcome.

• Bloggers who put themselves out there for their readers.
• Young people give me hope. However, so does 90-year-old scientist Jane Goodall. Her groundbreaking research on the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania helped correct several long-held misunderstandings. These included misconceptions about chimpanzees, their diets, and their complex and highly developed social behaviors.

“If there’s life, there is hope.” –Stephen Hawking

The next post in this series will run on Monday, March 10.

Related Stories:

• Creating some hope – Part I
• Creating some hope – Part II