A whole stack of memories never equal one little hope.

Charles M. Schulz

The renowned Peanuts cartoonist, Charles M. Schulz, once said this beautiful quote above about hope.

The crux of its meaning is the difference between living from something that has already happened and cannot be changed and living for something that lies ahead, something that can be made, a future that is not yet determined but is fast approaching.

Everyone has a past. Some pasts are full of regret and pain. Some pasts have been wonderful and memorable. The thing about the past is it is past. It is over. It isn’t something you can “relive.” No matter how wonderful or horrible it was, there is always the next second, the next day, the next month, the next year. We are not guaranteed that future, but the power of hope for the future is that we can live in such a way as to make that future what we want it to be. We can plan. We can act. We can make choices in such a way as to bring about the future we hope for.

Don’t give up hope. Let go of the past. Begin living for the future you want to have.