My third favorite flower is the sunflower.  

Although I list it as third, the sunflower could easily tie for second place with the favored pansy.  The sunflower has such a sunny disposition and the pansy has such a happy disposition.  They both radiate hope for today and for all the tomorrows.  

The sunflower is my daughter’s favorite flower.  I think she is a lot like the sunflower.  

The sunflower tells us to stand tall.  She may not be the tallest, but she holds herself up high.  She respects herself and those around her.  

The sunflower tells us to be strong.  She is definitely strong.  Not only in muscle strength, but more importantly in mental and emotional strength. 

The sunflower tells us that we can endure.  She has endured.  Through all the ups and downs of her still young life, she continues to find her courage and to be brave. 

The sunflower tells us that we can be optimistic, that there is something to look forward to.  She has an amazing future ahead of her.  She has ideas, plans and goals.  She is looking towards her tomorrows and not her yesterdays. 

The sunflower tells us that there is goodness around us.  She is kind-hearted.  She shares her talents.  She helps those in need. 

The sunflower tells us that we are loved.  She has the love of family, today and everyday.  

The sunflower tells us there is happiness.  She, like all of us, have our sad and down days, but she is able to remind herself that there are many, many things in her life to be happy about.  

The sunflower tells us there is hope.   Through her careful thinking, planning and choosing, she knows there is much to be hopeful for.  

Four things that the sunflower tells all of us is: 

• Stand tall and follow your dreams.
• Focus on what’s positive in your life.  
• Don’t let anyone get you down. 
• Hold on to hope for the days ahead.  

Look towards the sunflower.  Watch it grow.  See it bloom.  Absorb its energy.  Feels its warmth.  Meditate in its happiness.  Let it remind you that there is hope to hold on to.  

My second favorite flower is the pansy.  

I love their thoughtful faces. 

For me, pansies have always been forgiving flowers and easy to grow. I plant them as annuals and I find it fun that every year can be a different color combination.   I loved when I could showcase them on my front porch rails.  Today, though, I don’t have a front porch. I am going to have to come up with a creative way to plant them.  

I have had summers of purple flowers.  Purple is noted for royalty, nobility, and beauty.  I have had summers of yellow flowers.  Yellow portrays happiness, positive energy, and joy.  I have had summers of a combination of yellow and orange flowers.   Orange is noted for happiness, joy, and optimism.  I have had summers of blue flowers.  Blue denotes honesty and loyalty.  

My favorite color choice would be the purple flowers, but I like the meaning behind the yellow and orange flowers the most.  The yellow and orange flowers extend to us their positive energy. That flower’s felt positive energy increases our internal hope of optimism, happiness and joy.

I have read that King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table would use pansies to foretell their future.   The Knights would pluck a petal for secret signs.  Four lines on a pansy petal to the Knights meant hope.

The pansy symbolizes thinking.  The flower’s name is derived from the French word pensee, which means “thought”.  The pansy was given this name because the flower resembles a human face.  In late summer the pansy tends to fall forward as if it is deep in thought.  

The pansy is telling us to have a positive mindset and to think before acting.  The pansy also tells us that there is hope.  Its little face whispers to each one of us that there is hope.  We have the hope deep inside us for true happiness and joy.

My favorite flower is the peony.  

I love their color, their shape, and their size.  When Marco Polo saw the peony flower for the first time his remark was, peonies were “roses that are big as cabbages”.  Peonies have also been described as “overblown roses”.  

When I lived in Alaska, I couldn’t wait for the snow to melt.  Watching and waiting.  I waited for the new shoots to peek out out of the dirt.  I watched for the buds.  I waited for the flowers.  I watched for the pure beauty of my peonies.  

To help me get through the dark Alaska winter days I printed 16X20 prints of my favorite peony pictures that I had taken from my garden, framed them and hung them in my dining room.  Those pictures reminded me that there was hope, that winter would come to an end, that spring would come and the earth’s colors would explode into full bloom.  

I haven’t had a peony garden in a few years and how I have missed them.  I have missed the round buds holding tight the layers of petals that open into incredibly beautiful ruffled blooms.  

Now that spring is arriving in the Pacific Northwest, I am looking for the perfect spot to start a new peony garden.  My wonderful husband just bought for me 6 peony starts, four pink and two red.  I am so very excited.  

Formally the peony doesn’t symbolize hope.  It’s known for prosperity, good fortune, honor, and compassion.  Through the peony though we can still find hope.  We can hope for the comfort of prosperity.  We can hope for the luck of good fortune.  We can hope for honor through respect.  We can hope for compassion through kindness.  

As Easter has reminded us, spring is a time for renewal and new life.  Spring not only renews our hope but can also give our hope new life.  

For me spring lifts my heart.  Spring seems to ease my burdens a little.  Spring fills me with excitement and anticipation.  Spring reminds me to stop for a minute, take a deep breath and be thankful for the rebirth of the earth’s beauty.  

May the warming sun fill you with hope as it warms the awakening beauty of the world around us.  Let the Spring time be a renewing of Hope time for you.

I purchased the paper mâché bunnies from Target. After painting the bunnies I dressed them up with sola wood flowers that I had dyed. I finished the look with cute pink button noses. It was a fun project!

How does one go about finding hope?

6. Acknowledging Gratitude

Gratitude is being grateful for your life.  It is being grateful for the little things that make life worth living, for the opportunities that are presented to you every day.  Hope comes from being aware of how blessed you really are.  Be thankful for today.  Even in times of hopelessness there is always something to be grateful for.  

Acknowledge your blessings.  Keep a small notebook and everyday write at least five things that you are grateful for. 

7. Gifting Hope to Others

Be a source of hope for others.  In doing so it can also be a source of hope for you.  When you do not know where to find hope, look for it in people who need your help.  Even as you are struggling you still have the power through your time, talent, abilities and energy to bring hope to others.  Your gifts could be the creation of hope.  

8. Allowing Others to Help

Allowing others to help you could be turning to your loved ones and asking for their help.  Your loved ones can provide the support you might need on your journey to hopefulness.   It might be difficult to ask for their help, but do it anyway.  They have a need to help you as much as you need their help.  The ones that love you and care for you will want to help you rediscover your hope.  Lean on them.  Your loved ones can give you the time and energy needed to help you through your journey. 

Seek out people in your life that see the bright side of things – the one’s that have a positive attitude about life.  

Finding help could be connecting with people who have faced similar circumstances and overcome what you are struggling with right now.  Where you lack hope others have probably been there too.  Find a way to connect.  Look for support and guidance through personal blogs, social media, online forums, podcasts, religious organizations and websites, books, conferences, retreats. 

Finding help could be seeking professional aid through a counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist.

Connecting with groups where you hear and read about hopefulness makes it easier for you to find hope again. It is important that you know that you are not alone.  

9. Focusing on Our Spirituality

Many find hope through their spirituality.  With spiritual hope a higher power is helping you through the ups and downs of life.  

Finding hope in spirituality is trusting that God will lead you out of darkness and He will never leave you.  Hope is knowing that God hurts with you, God is bigger than your pain, and God will heal your weary heart.  Hope is knowing that there is power in your prayer.  

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”    Jeremiah 29:11

10. Looking for it in Unexpected Places

You never know where you will find hope.  You never know who might give you hope.   At any time hope can sneak up and surprise you. 

Hope can be found in the beauty of a flower, the expectation of a new bloom, the beauty of a field of tulips, the sunshine of a sunflower.  When you take notice of the beauty around you, you begin to realize that you are capable of remarkable things.

Hope is essential in life.  Hope reminds us that bad times are temporary.  Hope tells us to keep going and to keep looking towards the future.  

How does one go about finding hope?

1. Trusting Yourself

Trusting in hope is believing in yourself.  It is knowing and recognizing that you have the power to make things better.  Believe that there is a positive outcome ahead.  Know that you have the power to trust in hope and trust there is change ahead.  

Trust that everything happening right now is happening for a reason.  Trust that something good will come of it.  Our hidden strengths emerge as we trust in hope.

2. Listening to Your Intuition

Hopeful intuition is listening to that little voice inside of you, the one that knows you and guides you, your gut instinct.  Sometimes you will know what to do.  Other times you will have just a feeling.  Allow yourself to react to that feeling.  Intuition can turn your hopelessness into hopefulness.  

3. Letting Go

As Queen Elsa sings – “LET IT GO”.  Let go of your fears.  Let go of your sadness.  Let go of your anxiety.  Let go of anything and everything that is holding you back.  When you “let it go” you have created space to let hope in.  

4. Creating Action

Hope from action entails making a decision to find a way to move out of darkness towards a place of hope.  It is taking the needed steps, whatever it takes, to move towards the opportunities that will get you to your place of hope.  

Action could involve 

• Finding sayings about hope that speak to you and the positing those quotes on the bathroom mirror, on the refrigerator, around your house, in your car, at your work desk.
• Reminding yourself that you have overcome obstacles before, that you kept going and your found success.  
• Reminding yourself of your past successes by writing a list of all the past wins in your life – the big and the small.  
• Taking small steps by finding simple tasks that you can do today to move you towards what you are hoping for.  
• Forcing negative images out of your mind and imagining what hope looks like.   

5. Willingness to Make Change

Seek hope by allowing change.   Set realistic goals and believe in yourself.  Work towards achieving your goals of hopefulness.  Work towards your goals trusting that things are going to change and improve as you move forward.  To reach those goals though you must have the ability to be flexible and adaptable along the way.  

It has been said that the only constant thing in this world is change.  Hope for your goals, believe in yourself, put in consistent effort, and keep moving.  It may not be easy but being hopeful is about persisting and being motivated to achieve your dreams.  

To be continued…..