“Start by doing what is necessary, then what’s possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – St. Francis of Assisi
Life attempts to teach us several lessons. Sometimes we get it right away, sometimes it takes awhile, and sometimes we never understand. A life lesson that I’m still struggling with is that time never stops. I can spend a day doing absolutely nothing except relaxing but when the sun rises the next day, that’s just another day gone. Slowly these days add up and soon I find myself with only two weeks left of summer and a bucket list with almost nothing marked off.
It’s easy to come to this realization and be cast into despair. Then I sit wallowing and that long to do list just keeps piling up because I’m too discouraged to do anything. Then nothing gets done which adds to the despair. This is a prime example of a vicious cycle.
I struggled most with this never ending cycle of despair in my most recent previous semester. Then I found the above quote by St. Francis. It made it sound so easy. Just start with the necessary. So I would prioritize my to do list with what absolutely had to get done that day. Then if I had time, I would add on things that needed to be done the next day or the day after. Without me realizing it, I was doing assignments almost a week in advance when I could.
So what made the impossible possible? Hope. The quote by St. Francis had given me hope that if I just started, I could do anything; however, I had to be given the knowledge of the quote to find that hope to end my vicious cycle. Recently, I’ve been adding more knowledge to my arsenal by reading the Catholic Catechism. The Catechism views hope as “relying on the strength of the holy spirit.” So now I know, when I fall into a vicious never ending cycle of despair, to trust in the holy spirit and to have hope that everything with be ok.
Here’s a song that shows what hope can do.
catholicmusician 