What It Means For YOU To Hope With Abandon

For those of you who know me and my vision for Hope Boulevard, you know my tagline/go-to-phrase is Hope With Abandon. What you may not know is what that means to me. And what it can mean to you!

Dante Alighiere was a 14th-century Italian poet and philosopher. Here is a line from one of his poems. 

Midway in the journey of our life
I came to myself in a dark wood

Does that sound familiar to anyone? Or is it just me? Am I the only one who has ever found themselves wandering around in the middle of their life in the dark? 

The poem he wrote was called “Inferno” (the Italian word for Hell), and it was the first in the Divine Comedy trilogy. The poem takes the reader (and Dante) through Hell’s nine circles of torment. (Makes me wonder why it was called a comedy.) Turns out during that time period, literature was categorized either as a tragedy (sad ending) or comedy (happy ending). It would seem nine circles of hell would definitely be considered a tragedy, but Inferno is only the first poem. By the end of the trilogy, Dante is in Heaven, and that certainly qualifies as a happy ending. 

Anyway, back to my original thought. In the poem, as Dante approaches the Gates Of Hell; these were the words inscribed there; “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”. This would be a fair assessment, considering his situation at the moment and where his path brought him. Honestly, this is where many of us feel we have landed at varying points in our lives, and if we do not make a conscious effort to do otherwise, it is easy to despair. 

So, I decided to flip the script. 

Hope With Abandon is my reversal play on Dante’s words and OUR ultimate guide to turning the tables on our circumstances. 

What does it look like to Hope With Abandon? Let’s break it down. 

Abandon – in the truest sense, is to walk away from; give up. It is my challenge today for us all to abandon our fears, walk away from our pain, and choose to give up our misery. Then, from the joyful side of the definition; Abandon expressly represents a complete lack of restraint and a selling out to the confident expectation of good. Read that again: a confident expectation of good! 

I truly desire for Hope Boulevard to make a difference and offer the one thing we all need regardless of our beliefs, biases, culture, race, financial status, situation or background. 

HOPE is a universal need for all of us.

Is this always easy? Absolutely not. I am not immune to loneliness, defeat, fear, struggles and questions. I have known failure and I admit weakness. But I also acknowledge that I will not be defined by those things. It is a choice you and I have to make each day to rise above the darkness and turn towards the light. 


This is my pledge and declaration and I encourage you to make it too:  

I have the freedom and choice to spontaneously and willingly anticipate the wild beauty that is mine to enjoy in this life. I will target joy and aim only in the direction of the meaningful. I will strive to be grateful and humble and believe in the inexhaustible goodness of God and His purpose for me. I will: 

HOPE WITH ABANDON!

Hope Out!

www.hopeboulevard.com