The Jungle of Hope

Jungle

             1. an area of land overgrown with dense forest and tangled vegetation.

While my boys were playing today they were pretending some of there toys had landed on a deserted island and they had to get to a safe place to be rescued.  Then I heard the oldest say "Then we have to make it through the Jungle of Hope..."  Stopped me dead in my tracks.

The Jungle of Hope. What an accurate phrase of so many different things you could be going through.  A Jungle is not an easy thing to travel through. It takes lost of work and effort, no marked path, unable to see but only, maybe few feet in front of you, if that.  The fact that the name of the Jungle is hope is mind blowing to me. I mean it is a place you must fight & struggle through how can it be called hope.  The thing to remember is all this fighting and struggling is what is brining you closer to your dreams.  To truly succeed in anything we may struggle w/ we all must travel through the Jungle of Hope. The Hope of reaching the other side is what keeps us going.

Imagine looking at this Jungle & it is so intimidating. I picture myself standing in an open field that buts right up to the jungle & just pacing it in front of it, weighing my options. The field is comfortable & easy, has every thing you need, but on the other side of this jungle is everything you dream of.  The jungle is a land full of things blocking our path, these things have been growing and intertwining for years, making going through it extremely difficult.  You decide the reward out weighs the fear and you enter the jungle.  Some vines are so big & thick it is taking all your strength multiple times whacking it w/ a machete to get through.  It gets worse before it gets better you reach the densest part of the jungle. You cry out in frustration & anger. This is where you want to give up, turn around and take the now beaten path behind you.  Your frustrated, tired, not seeing the results you want or expected to see and you want to go back to the comfy field.  This is where you have to decide to keep pushing forward or you decide to quit.  What you haven't realized is through this all,  as exhausted & frustrated as you are feeling you are getting stronger.  You choose to keep pushing forward.  The thicker vines are not taking as many hits before you break them.  It is getting easier as your strength increases.  Before you know it they vines that were so intimidating, you are crushing with out thought. It is now part of who you are. You can take them out w/ one blow hardly looking. Then you break through, you see the end of the Jungle.  The other side is in site and you sprint towards it. All the work, frustration, pain and tears were all worth it.  You collapse on the ground on the other side next to a beautiful lake and you catch a view of your reflection. Tears start to flow as you take a closer look, it's you. The real you, the you that you knew was in there.

I want this. I want to reach the other side of my jungle of hope.  I want to see the real me again.   I am practically in tears w/ the vivid images I have in my head right now.  I'm so in love w/ the idea of the Jungle of hope I may change my blog title again.  To think I could be so inspired just by over hearing my boys play.