Читать книгу The Woman's Book of Hope - Eileen Campbell - Страница 11

With all its uncertainty and unpredictability, life may be challenging for us at times, but it's always richer with possibilities than we might at first think. We always have a choice as to how we react to situations. If we remain hopeful, open, and receptive, the future unfolds in a manner that allows us to pursue and realize our dreams. Possibilities emerge that, if we're negative and despairing in our attitude, we fail to see.

Throughout history there have sadly been exiles and refugees, and recent history has been no exception with the turmoil in the Middle East. We have all been appalled by the plight of thousands of refugees leaving the horrors of war-torn Syria to come to the West. One of the most heart-rending, but at the same time inspirational, stories is that of the young girl Nujeen Mustafa, who has cerebral palsy and cannot walk. She traveled in her wheelchair in search of a new life, wanting to join her brother and sister in Germany, and dreaming of becoming an astronaut. From Bodrum in Turkey, she traveled in an overcrowded dingy to the Greek island of Lesbos and then took a fourteen-hour ferry ride to mainland Greece. The Hungarian/Serbian border had closed to refugees the day before her arrival, so she had to make a long detour via Croatia and Slovenia, where she was held in a detention center for twenty-four hours, before finally making the long bus journey to Germany. Now settled and at school, she plans to go on to study physics. It was her positive attitude and saying “yes” to the possibility of safety and a new life that Nujeen believes helped her face the long and difficult journey: “I thought of it as something that I'm living through now, but that will pass. I thought of everything as a big adventure.”

I have Gujarati friends living in England, who similarly had hopeful attitudes when they were expelled from Idi Amin's Uganda in August 1972. Of the eighty thousand Asians who were ordered to leave Uganda, thirty thousand came to the UK, leaving behind their wealth and possessions. They brought with them, however, a determination to rebuild their lives, no matter the sacrifices that had to be made. They said “yes” to starting all over again, even though their start was hardly propitious—they were housed in old military camps with very few facilities. Their parents worked hard and they worked hard, studying to get more qualifications and build successful businesses. My friends’ stories are stories of struggle, but one is a consultant anesthetist, another ran a successful chain of pharmacies before retiring, and another was an academic librarian. All are engaged in volunteer work in their communities. I'm full of admiration for how they overcame adversity and how they have built successful lives for themselves and are contributing to their communities too.

With a hopeful, determined attitude, however much things are against us at certain points in our lives, we can undoubtedly win when we say “yes” to the possibilities that are always there for us.

I am emerging from my difficult times.

I am hopeful, open, and receptive to a glorious future.

I say “yes” to the possibilities that are unfolding.