There are two things in our lives that can dominate our thoughts, and both are contagious. Spreading rapidly, they can quickly incorporate their patterns into the very fiber of our being, wrapping tendrils of influence throughout the very mechanisms of our brain. They can change our day completely, with the ability to turn it around, or turn it upside down. Infectious, the power behind these two things and their capability to spread, are uniquely impressive.

Two of the most powerful forces on earth, hope and misery, and you have the ability to catch and transmit either. You are a unique vessel with the capability to fill yourself to the brim with either hope or misery, and you can overflow to the point of infecting others around you.

So what are you spreading? Are you responsible for a local epidemic of misery? Have you caught the misery bug from an unfortunate event or another gloomy human? Misery loves company, and this world is pretty good at sharing it generously. Are you miserable?

There is a pretty simple solution to the gloom and doom mentality, and it is readily available to you. It is the cure for misery and it vaccinates against future outbreaks.

Hope. Hope heals. Hope spreads. Hope destroys misery like an antibiotic full of sunshine, and you were meant to be hopeful. Hope is healthy, full of vitality, as easy to spread as misery, and much more fun to transmit. Hope is yours for the taking and the giving.

Unfortunately, a lot of us can be caught in the snares of misery, and it is hard to turn our thought patterns around enough to become untangled from it’s clasp. Our brains are complicated things, and when our brains become entwined with the wrong thought patterns, we initially have to work very hard to untangle the negative thoughts from the good ones. Fortunately, this becomes easier the more we do it. Practice does make perfect.

You have the ability to carve out new neural pathways in your brain, and just like any new road, what starts as a small almost indiscernible trail, will become a well beaten path the more it is traveled. In fact, you can travel those paths so often that they become super highways in your brain, easy to find and easy to navigate. Would you rather travel on the Hope Highway, or the Misery Freeway during your daily commute? The choice is yours.

Choose to catch the hope bug, and once it has infected you, create a pandemic around you. Trust me, there are enough people out there spreading the misery virus, and it is an epidemic. The only cure is hope, and honestly hope can start with you.

Hope is as available to you as misery, and hope springs eternal in Jesus. Because of Him, we have hope galore, and it is limitless. We have hope for joy, love, healing, forgiveness, hope to end addictions and suffering, hope to change the world, and hope for a future, both in this life, and most definitely in the next.

If you are caught in satan’s sticky web of misery, you can be set free. Jesus is freedom, and he offers you all the hope you can possibly imagine.

Hope is in your Bible, so keep reading it, or dust it off, borrow one or even purchase one! Hope is in the right people, the people who offer easy smiles, warm hugs, and encouraging words. Hope is in nature, in the awe-inspiring world of beauty that surrounds us. Hope is in a healthy diet and healthy exercise. Hope is in surrounding yourself with as much positivity as possible, because positivity breeds more positivity and it spreads like wildfire!

Dump the misery. Kick it to the curb. Evict it from your home, your job, your mind. Lose anything that brings you down. Lose the news stories, negativity in social media, dark rooms, hateful people. Get away from the joy suckers, because once you have escaped misery, you may very well be strong enough to infuse joy in the very people who brought you down, the people who need the most hope.

You have the power to change your brain, and the power lies in Jesus. He came to rescue us from misery, and His death for us enabled powerful hope for everyone . That hope is in faith. The faith that Jesus saved us from misery, from ourselves, and from death. There is eternal hope in Jesus, and true happiness comes only from Him.

So today, what do you choose? Do you choose hope, happiness and joy? Or are you going to continue to strengthen the roads of misery, despair, hate and gloom?

The choice truly is yours. You have the power to choose life or death. Today, surround yourself with hope at every opportunity, and take a detour from any negativity that comes your way. You are important. You have the right to joy, and the right to protect your mental health, so protect yourself with the shield of hope.

Get out of the rain, and step into the sun! Then, when you’re dry, when you’re warm, spread your own sunshine, because somebody else may need you to rescue them from the storm, and your light, your joy, your hope, is truly contagious! Spread it! You just never know, your happy germs might infect the whole world, because your mood is super infectious. Choose to infect everyone around you with joy. Be hopeful and then be contagious.

God bless,

Ray

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Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
Luke 5:31

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
James 5:15

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
Psalm 71:14