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Well a new year is finally here.

I have no idea what is in store for me but I am hopeful that things will continue to get better.

Have you ever seen the Shawshank Redemption?

I am reminded of that film because of the word "hope."

That word is the basis for Andy Dufresne's tolerance of the events he endures while incarcerated.

In the Stephen King book (Different Seasons) in which the novella appears it is prefaced with the following: "HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL"

Recently someone told me that using hope was a waste of energy.

He felt that hoping your place in life or, more importantly, your past could be different was useless.

And I disagree with that feeling because wanting your past to be different is what drives you to change your present.

What I mean is that if you did something in your past that you are not proud of or were disappointed by, then using hope to not be in that situation or to avoid being disappointed again is how you can use it.

Yet you can also use hope as a way to deal with unpleasant feelings and situations as Andy did and that is the way I have been using hope recently.

I am trying to convince my friend "Red" that hope can be a wonderful thing.

I am trying to get them to acknowledge like Red in the film that having hope is good because by the end of both the novella and film Red states:

I hope Andy is down there.
I hope I can make it across the Border.
I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.
I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.
I hope.

For this character to admit that he has a feeling of hope is the difference between life and death.

I want my friend to feel ALIVE again and showing them that having hope might just be the way to do it.

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I feel that I must acknowledge the comments that I receive from readers. I know that if I read something and it inspires a response that is the ultimate compliment to the author.

So I say thank you to all the people who have commented on any post that I have written.

You make it worth while to actually keep this blogging thing up.

So, again, thank you.