Dum spiro, spero.
– Latin proverb
Hope gets such a bad wrap sometimes, especially when it comes to infertility.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” they say.
I counter this with: “And why the hell not?” I look at it this way: yes, I may be getting my hopes up, but they’re keeping me afloat. (Hope floats and all that.) Even when we have our moments where things don’t work out or even go catastrophically wrong, hope is still riding the waves, still sitting out there in the ocean as this buoy that never fails us.
We can sink under the water but if we can just get our faces to break the surface, we should be able to see hope, bobbing along as usual.
Hope Is Not a Four-Letter Word
Hope is essential to the mission and beliefs here at The Infertility Voice (you can read all 4 Empowerment Statements and 7 Guiding Beliefs here). I truly believe that hope is an essential part of the infertility experience. I mean, we can’t help it. Every cycle we think, “Will this be it? Will this be THE cycle?” And in that wondering, there’s that butterfly sensation in our chest, flitting about its wings in our heart; that little twinge that can’t help but pull up on the corners of our mouths – that secret smile as we give ourselves the permission to be hopeful in the moment.
For me personally?
Hope keeps me going. I remain hopeful because the alternative feels so much more bleak and unmotivated. Hope propels me forward.
Sometimes hope can be fraught with pain and anxiety, too. Everyone walks their journey a little differently and for some, to hold our hope is just setting themselves up for more heartbreak. I get that, I do. And I can respect the need for self-preservation when it comes to emotional health. But I still think it’s okay to indulge in hope once in a while and then tuck it away for later when you need it.
That’s why I compiled twelve of my favorite posts into one eBook: With Hope in Hand. The title says it all – words of motivation for every step of your journey. Just like the notion of hope, this eBook is there to walk with you, to turn to when you need to indulge, self-soothe and seek some emotional validation for where you are in the moment.
Taking the idea of embracing hope one step further brings me right into today’s giveaway.
Launch Giveaway: Tuesday
The Goods
You can win one copy of Go With The FLOW: Fertile Living Outline Workbook written by yours truly. Also up for grabs will be a copy of my eBook The Infertility Almanac: A Year of Coping & Hoping. I’m still finishing this second eBook and hope to have it ready sometime in April. The winner gets the first copy for free, hot off the e-Press!
A little more about Go With The FLOW… I wrote this eBook as a one of several companion guides I plan to write in conjunction with my Fertile Life Coaching. Back in January, when I decided to live a fertile life for myself this year, the idea came to me to map this idea of fertile living into a more structured system. Go With The FLOW walks you through the overview of what Fertile Living means as well as set Fertile Living intentions and blueprints for yourself.
Hope is as much a constant as it is a choice. You can choose hope. And that’s just one part of my whole Fertile Living philosophy. Want a free preview? You can download a free sample of the FLOW eBook from Scribd here.
Deadline & Notification
Today’s Giveaway ends at 12:01am EST (US) on Monday, March 12, 2012. (Please note this is later than yesterday’s giveaway.) The winner will be chosen at random via Rafflecopter’s magical random selection tool and be notified via email within 48 hours of the contest’s end. Good luck!
Enter Now!
With all this talk of hope, I thought it might be helpful to actually see hope laid out… that’s why I created a Pinterest Board called Envisioning Hope.
Got something hopeful and inspirational to add to the pinboard? Leave an image link or blog post link in the comments below and I’ll pin it up!
I like the idea of hope. I plan to keep hoping and stop worrying. For now, fur babies (one cat likes to be held just like a baby) and hope that someday we get to a bigger family (secondary infertility makes me sad and guilty all at once). I may have to also get an infertility tattoo. That should keep me occupied in the infinite waiting pattern we are in right now.
Because I could use a little help in the hope department.
Hi Keiko – this is great, I’m so proud of what your doing! Hope is certainly the only thing that has gotten us through some dark days. The only word I’ve had to hang on to during this 4.5 year battle. Here’s a link to a post that I wrote about it if you’d like to check it out. http://hopedelayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/dum-spiro-spero-while-i-breathe-i-hope.html
I’ve hung onto that word so much that I wanted to use it as a middle name if we had a little girl after becoming pregnant from IVF #1. Sadly, we said goodbye to that little angel before we ever got to hold her. A few weeks after that miscarriage I went with my bff (a fellow IF’er) and we got matching tattoos of the word “Hope”. It’s my profile picture, hopefully it shows up when I post this comment. It’s a daily reminder to never give up on our dreams!
So happy about what you’re doing for this community!
Sad – no profile pic showed up but thanks for linking your post! This quote: Dum spiro, spero – it’s just so beautiful, so inspiring, I can see you’re drawn to it as well! Pinned the video in your post – what a great song.
B/t your comment & Kimberly’s, along with another blogger I know – that makes THREE ALI bloggers who’ve gone out and gotten tattoos re: infertility. Y’all are makin’ a strong case for me to get one 😉
I’m so sorry for your loss and thank you so much for commenting and sharing.
I feel like this is something I really needed to hear today. I would love to have those e-books to help guide me towards hope and making positive change in my life. I tend to struggle with change and any little push in the right direction is much needed.
Tabetha I’m so glad you’ve found comfort in my words. Definitely check out the free sample of Go With The FLOW – there’s lots to inspire you even w/o the workbook section. Good luck in the giveaway!
Living a healthy, hopeful life while dealing with infertility is such a challenge. I need all the help I can get.
And your words are always an inspiration.
Thanks so much Suzy! There’s no magical formula other than making the choice to live hopefully/fertilely every morning I get up. And it’s taken me nearly 30 years to figure this out!
The words hope and believe have always been strong words that help me get through the difficult times. So much so that I had the word believe tattooed on the inside of my left wrist. I would like to, one day, get the word hope on the inside of my right wrist.
Don’t know if it will interest you, but here is the link to my entry about my tattoo. http://almostbatten.blogspot.com/2011/09/importance-of-getting-inked-or-how-kim.html
Thanks so much Kim! Pinned the pic of your tattoo on your wrist. What a great post – thank you so much for sharing!
I’ll use them to give me my hope again.
I promise you Fiona – the hope is already there. It might be really deep within you, but it’s there. Good luck!