Over the last 30 years, I’ve spent untold hours doing pastoral counseling with what seems to be a “gazillion” or more individuals, couples and families.
Hopelessness is an enemy that I must hold at bay, avoiding it at all costs. It comes about quickly if I fail to see a future and a plan for my life. Hopelessness quickly gives way to despair and then the despair gives way to depression. And suddenly I can find myself in a deep dark bit that overwhelms into emotional pain, isolation, and no will to get up and live.