Smoken Hope … A trail tip

Hope: A feeling of expectation and desire for a positive outcome.

It’s time to start a smoking habit.  It’s time to start Smoken Hope.  Just like we breath in air every minute of every day and don’t ever think about it.  We are also starting to breath in a lot of despair and depression with the world we are living in: COVID, unemployment, forced stay-at-home, lack of community and other things are affecting our mental health.  Just like smoking cigarettes is bad for our lungs; smoking -taking in- despair and depression is bad for our body and mental health.  But it’s time to change that projectory.  It’s time to start breathing in a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain (positive) outcome.  It starts with hoping for small things and starting to see hope around us.  Lysa Terkeurst says in her book Forgiving What You Can’t Forget; “What we look for is what we will see.  What we see determines our perspective.  And our perspective becomes our reality”.  She also gives the car example, where once you buy a certain car, you start to see them everywhere.  And that is so true.  We bought a Honda CRV a year ago and every time I drive it, I see them everywhere now.  If we are looking for HOPE, we will start to see it all around us.  Even in the drive thru at Chick-fil-A.  So how can we start Smoken Hope in our hiking, personal and work life?  Well it starts with declaring what we are not going take in to our mind and declaring what we are going to breath into our life.

In hiking with winter setting in; IT’S NOT; being discouraged by the short days, snow, ice, cold, and wind that is all around us.  IT IS: knowing that hiking through the winter will give you a strong base for the spring.  It is knowing that getting out will clear your head and make your heart stronger.  It is knowing that hiking Dixon Trail to the top of Cheyenne Mountain or Mt. Rosa will become a May hike and not a July hike.  [Both about 14 miles and over 3500 feet vertical.]

In our personal life, IT’S NOT: Fretting about not seeing all your family at holidays.  IT IS about enjoying the time with the family and friends we did get to see.  It is about seeing my sons sitting around the table and talking with us for an hour after the Thanksgiving meal was done.  IT’S Not about waking up in the morning with a sense of dread and doubt about your ability to function and get to the end of day.  IT IS about breathing in Hope and positive expectations for a great day.  IT IS about seeing the small positive things that build on each other.

In our work life, IT’S NOT: wondering if you have the right job skills, second guessing decisions you make, doubting your ability to get a job done well, or wondering if you made the right career choice to begin with.  IT IS about knowing you have God given skills that make you unique with a purpose for where you are working.  IT IS about having that sense of expectation for every task you complete and meeting you attend; AND knowing you can have a positive impact on your co-workers.

So, what kind of hope are you smoken? What expectations (hope) do you want for your hiking, personal, and work life? Have you shared that hope with others?  I challenge you in this difficult season to share your hope with others and ask them about what kind of hope they are smoken?  The next time you want to meet someone for a hike or a meal; start with “Let’s go on a hike and smoke some hope” or “Let’s get together some evening and smoke some hope.  Just like a cigar room gets filled with cigar smoke; your Smoken Hope room will begin to burst with HOPE. 

In closing I would like to acknowledge Jim Maffuccio for the phrase “Smoken Hope”, which was the genesis for this Trail Tip.