How to Keep Hope Alive

When he was still a slave, Frederick Douglass was told he was being sent from Baltimore to St. Michael’s. This move from the city to the country meant his chances of successfully escaping slavery had decreased tenfold.

“I then had to regret that I did not at least make the attempt to carry out my resolution to run away [while in Baltimore].”

But as the boat ferried him toward St. Michael’s, he observed the path the steamboats they passed took into Philadelphia.

“I found, instead of going down, on reaching North Point they went up the bay…I deemed this knowledge of the utmost importance. My determination to run away was again revived. I resolved to wait only so long as the offering of a favorable opportunity. When that came, I was determined to be off.”

If you feel like giving up hope, just put one foot in front of the other and look around you for a sign to keep going.

It will come, so long as you are alive and aware enough to see it.

Because after all, what is the alternative? Give up? What good will that do?

No matter how deep of a hole you’re in, there’s always a next best move you can make. Like Douglass, instead of feeling sorry for yourself, look for that next move and seize it. Then do that again. And again.

And soon enough, you’ll have dug yourself out of a hole. But that only happens if you keep on going and refuse to give up. You don’t have to like it, and you shouldn’t feel happy about how things are if you’ve messed up. But what’s important is that you can’t use your dissatisfaction as an excuse to give up.

Because in the game of life, the only way you lose is through death or giving up. If you keep on going, and keep working hard every day, it’s only a matter of time until you’ve built a life you’re proud of.

It may take a few months, or it may take decades, but you can only control the timeline so much. What you can control is what kind of effort and foresight you bring to each day.

So pay attention, work hard, and look for the next best move, and like Douglass you’ll eventually find your way “up the bay” – to freedom.