BAJAN SUN MAGAZINE
OCT 2014
The Authenticity
OF
By Norma T. Hollis
HOPE
I hope I can, I hope I can, I hope I can.
I
’ve said this many times in my life. It’s been a
driving force and frequently all that I could cling to.
Hope has been the authentic expression of my
feelings and a projection of my expectation for the
future. Whenever I did not feel hopeful I did not feel
alive. Without hope my life had no purpose. Without
hope I felt no passion. Without hope I felt no progress.
Without hope I felt I would perish.
I remember the great hope that I felt when I graduated
from college. I was armed with a degree in early
childhood education and ready to change the way we
do education in this society. Many times I repeated the
thought that I hope I can make this change. As time
went on I moved from briefly teaching in the classroom
to directing large urban head start programs. In my last
early childhood encounter I was responsible for 1500
children and a staff of 250. My hopeful love of children
and change the world attitude turned into a constant
struggle to resolve personnel problems and work to
change the mind set of low income parents, many of
whom never had a connection with hope. My “I hope I
can” mantra turned to a fight or flight perspective as the
reality of the challenge of hope loomed heavy in my
mind. Rather than being hopeful for change I wondered
“how soon can I get out of this”. And I wondered how
the parents of these children lost the hope that enables
one to rise above their circumstances. No wonder so
many of them felt that their life had no purpose. How
sad that they would share this hopeless attitude with
their children. How important it was for me to return to
the authenticity of my “I hope I can” attitude.
After leaving the early childhood education environment
I moved my non-profit background into the for-profit
world. My thought was” I hope I can” make a success
as an entrepreneur. Changing two decades of non-profit
mindset to the mindset of a hopeful entrepreneur was
quite a challenge. The transition from writing an annual
grant and receiving a paycheck to the effort to seek
daily income took years for me to embrace. Even
though I really didn’t know what I was doing I kept the
feeling of hope and the belief that I could overcome the
challenge. The hope was authentic and was the driving
force. Difficult – yes, extremely. Possible – yes, with
hope.
Norma T. Hollis
America’s Leading Authentic Voice Doctor®
Mentor, Transformational Artist ~ Visionary
Advocate of the Human Spirit
Authenticity of Hope. I’m still hopeful that I impact parts
of the educational system through my understanding
and sharing of authenticity concepts. And I have
expanded the authenticity of my hope to help others
impact society in ways that reflect their hopeful
passions. Hope is a passion, one of the critical passions
for life success. It is an authentic feeling and need – just
like eating, sleeping and being in relationship with
others.
I hope you too embrace the passionate authenticity of
hope. It is the driving force of change and the driving
force of happiness. I hope I can, I hope you can and I
hope we continue to create authentic hope in the minds
and hearts of those we encounter.
Norma T. Hollis is America’s Leading Authentic Voice
Doctor®. Her Authenticity Audits provide prescriptions
to help people find, live and share their authentic voice.
Her programs focus on numerous aspects of
authenticity – stress reduction, time management,
leadership, parenting, communication and overall
personal development. She also has in-depth
workbooks and audios on each of the nine dimensions.
Take her free Authenticity Assessment by going to
www.NormaHollis.com and clicking #3. Be sure to sign
up for her free Authentic Tuesday teleseminars. Contact
Norma for speaking engagements, coaching programs
and an Authenticity Audit at [email protected].
Now as a professional speaker I share with people the
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