My Christmas Gift To You

Tonight I was feeling the Christmas spirit at an Orphanage who puts out Christmas lights to raise funds each year. It really touched me how much people care, how many people made donations for those little kids and I believe it gave them hope in so many ways..

A rather well known singer performed on stage so the amount of people was naturally in the thousands. (A few people short from 6,000).. As I was strolling through all the decorations and Christmas lights, I realized that between all those people I felt utterly alone. My parents were there but they were rushing off to find a place to sit… The bit of social anxiety I had, appeared rather quickly between all those people, I started to feel self-conscious, I kept worrying about what everyone was thinking and as luck would have it, someone actually had the audacity to look at me, point me out to a friend and they both laughed.. I wondered to myself if they even knew how much a few words, a look, even a laugh could hurt someone.. Do they even know how a person with social anxiety, depression or any other mental illness, disease or disability feels.. That is when it hit me, I can't be the only one, out of all those people, someone there had to feel the same way… I realized then how fantastic 7 Cups is, our listeners and members; they don't judge you based on a mental illness, they don't judge you on how you look, they don't judge you because you have flaws, all they do is care about you. They only care about your mental wellbeing, your health, your happiness, about you as a person.

7 Cups gives hope, to those who feel completely and utterly alone and lost in a crowd of people, we provide support.. We give people hope that they are never alone..

Hope is such a beautiful thing, contrary to popular belief, hope is not just part of a religion. Hope is so much more..

Hope is when the little voice inside your head says: "Try one more time." even when everything else is telling you to give up.

Hope is when you wish upon a fallen star, even though in reality the star has already died.

Hope is when you see an old couple who have been married for over 60 years and still seem in love.

Hope is when you believe that something positive will happen, even when you see all the reasons it won't happen.

Hope is when you see a person, risking their lives to help save a life.

Hope is when you see someone who had a disease like cancer or any sort of mental illness and they survived it.

Hope is when you see someone, who despite having the worst circumstances thrown at them, is the most thankful, positive person who you could ever meet.

Hope is when you see enemies stand together to fight for a good cause.

Hope is when you kept holding on even when it seemed like there was nothing left to fight for.

Hope is all around you but often you might not see it…

I decided that my Christmas gift to the 7 Cups community will be the gift of hope.

Please bear with me since this will be a really long post but I promise you that I will make it worth your time!

First of all, I want you to meet Nicholas James Vujicic, a man who was born with no limbs and despite what life has thrown at him, he stays one of the most passionate, inspirational people who I have ever come to know. He's a motivational speaker who, instead of being embarrassed about himself, has made countless people laugh and be happy because of who he is. This is a man who has been spreading hope for disabled people and even regular people (like little old me) His message to the world is that life is not about what you don't have, life is about making something with what you have. Read his full story.

A 15 year old boy called Bryan Warnecke, featured in a One Republic music video "I Lived". Every time I watch this, tears stream down my face.. This young boy lives with a disease called Cystic Fibrosis, a disease which is life-threatening. Even though he has to deal with this every single day, he is so positive about life, instead of worrying about the inevitable, he focuses himself in the moment, wanting to live his life to the fullest, regardless of any disease. He is a beacon of hope for so many others with a disease and even for those without any disease. He has inspired me to live my life in the moment. Read his story or watch the music video.

J.K. Rowling, a fabulous woman who had written one of the most hopeful, inspirational stories during a difficult time but got turned down, publisher after publisher. 12 publishers had rejected her works in total. She believed in her story so much that she never lost hope. Eventually she found a publisher who believed in her as much as she believed in herself. Finally the amazing story of Harry Potter was published; a story that gave the world hope. J.K Rowling wrote a story of hope that was spread out all through the world and to this day children still find hope in her stories. Even through difficult times, this woman never lost hope and that is what makes her extraordinary. Read about her struggles and her ultimate victory.

This is a man who had a dream, though everyone doubted in his vision. He is a man who had hope in something, despite what others thought about it. He started an era of something beyond amazing. He has given hope to children and adults all around the world, just because he never lost hope. This is a man who said If you can dream it, you can do it. Yes, Im talking about the amazing Walt Disney. Walt is a man who defined the odds, when everything went wrong, he tried again and again. He had hope in a little mouse and it ended up turning into something much bigger. Read about him.

Here is a girl who spread hope all across the world by simply refusing to let the rough waters of life sink her. Bethany Hamilton was on the road to being one of the best professional surfers, even at a young age. She survived a shark attack at the age of 13, even though she survived the attack, she had lost an arm. With determination she recovered faster than everyone could have expected and before long she was back on a surfboard. She didnt give up hope, even after she lost her arm, she was back to being one of the top professional surfers. She even wrote a book and had a movie made to spread hope to others who went through a similar ordeal. Read her full story.

This is a girl who didnt need a rough childhood to spread hope to the world.. This is a girl who used her success to make the world a better place. Jennifer Lawrence who got most of her success for her role of Katniss in The Hunger Games.. Why is she so amazing for that, you wonder? She was told to lose weight for her role and she simply refused. She wanted to have a positive influence on the girls who looked up to Katniss, she didnt want them to have to starve themselves to look like her. She gave hope to the world by standing up for what she believed in and not allowing the media and other influences to change her into an image with impossible standards. Read more about her.

These fantastic human beings just keep reminding me that not everyone in the world is in a race for fortune and fame; there are people out there who are really just trying to change the world. People who want nothing more than to give hope to others.

These are only a few people, there are millions of people who don't even take recognition for the difference they make in the world.These people have proved that even when you face the inevitable, you can still have hope. Hope is something you can choose to have, no matter how difficult a situation may seem, no matter how negative you may feel, you can always choose hope. Now many might argue and say why have hope in a hopeless situation? Well, see my friends, even if you are fighting a battle that is meant to be lost, having hope will spark something in you, something that will change your story from just another tragedy to a remarkable and unforgettable story. With a little bit of hope, you can give someone else the opportunity to see that no matter how terrible their situation is, there is a light in the darkness..

Hope is not the little sparkle in you, hope is what ignites the sparkle into a flame. You can start a fire inside your heart and spread it through the world as quickly as a wildfire spreads… People forget how powerful hope can be. By giving someone hope, you show them that life can be what they imagined it to be, in rare cases it can prevent someone from doing something irrational, because they felt hopeless..