The Promise of Hope: Honesty

[MUSIC PLAYING] Hi, I’m Edward Grinnan, Editor in Chief of “Guideposts,” and author of the new Guidepost book, “The Promise of Hope, How True Stories of Hope and Inspiration Saved My Life and How They Can Transform Yours.” I’m here today to talk a little bit about the first chapter and the first change key, honesty. 

Bill Irwin was a middle aged man with a wreckage of a life behind him. Several broken marriages an estranged relationship with his children and a deep and burning resentment about how his life had gone. And what he was most resentful about, was the fact that he had gone completely blind in his late 40s. 

Bill Irwin subsequently hiked the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine alone, except for his guide dog. Orient. And they called their journey the Orient Express. How did Bill become that person who could accomplish that incredible feat? The answer is honesty. Because Bill Irwin had one moment in his life when honesty was the only choice he had if he was going to survive. 

That moment of honesty was the beginning of both the journey up the Appalachian Trail and his own spiritual path. All change begins with honesty. The nine keys that I’ve identified in this book may not occur sequentially as they did in your life, but everything begins with honesty. It is always the first key. 

We look at ourselves and at our lives and we think, what is it I want to change about myself? Because all change begins internally. My change certainly did. I began to really look at my life and forced myself to ask the question, do I want to grow and become a better person spiritually? And once that I realized that I did, I had to understand what it was about myself that needed to change. And in my case, everything needed to change about my life. 

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You can order my book by going to guidepost.org/promiseofhope. Check back next week when I’ll share another inspiring “Guidepost” story from the next chapter of “The Promise of Hope.” And I’ll tell you a little bit more about my own story as well. See you then. 

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