You've got to have it

What can I not live without?

Food? Water? Air? Shelter?

Sure they are helpful.

But- what keeps me going?

What keeps me alive?

What keeps me living?

Hope.

You’ve got to have hope.

Hope brings the idea of something new

Something grand, joyful and light.

Those who do not have food, water, shelter

They hold onto hope because their lives depend on it

They hold onto the hope that something will come

Something helpful, something better, something new

What is the purpose of having the essentials with no hope?

There are some who have lost hope

Or, they give it up

They find themselves in a place

A dark, despondent, desolate place

Inside themselves

They can not see beyond the darkness.

The light that hope brings is extinguished in them

Hope brings promise of new beginnings

New light

Without it, darkness wins. Despair wins.

You’ve got to and I’ve got to have hope. 

With it, we shed light onto the future

Without it, we cast a stagnant darkness

You've got to have it.