The Promise of Hope: Willingness

Hi, I’m Edward Grinnan, editor-in-chief of “Guideposts” and author of the new Guideposts book “The Promise of Hope– How True Stories of Hope and Inspiration Saved My Life and How They can Help Transform Yours.” 

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How many people do you know– and maybe this includes yourself– who’ve been extremely even brutally honest about their shortcomings and about how they would love to address them? But really, they don’t do anything because they don’t have the willingness. They just have the honesty. 

Let me tell you a little bit about a young woman named Amy Presley. Amy was building a pretty good life for herself living in Florida and working in the medical profession. But Amy had a dream that she never really talked about and she hadn’t thought about for many, many years. But there was one thing holding her back, and she knew it. It was her weight. She was more than 100 pounds overweight. 

Then one morning, the morning of September 11, 2001, she was driving home from work when she heard the incredible and terrible news on the radio. Instead of continuing on her way, she turned off. And suddenly, she thought of that dream she’d always had, which was to join the Navy. And she drove directly to a Navy recruiting service. And they looked at her and they said, sure, we’ll consider letting you join the Navy. But come back when you’ve lost 100 pounds. 

It was the sort of thing that normally would have crushed her because her weight had been an issue her entire life. But this time– this time– she had discovered the willingness to change. And what she did in the next five weeks is truly unbelievable. 

Willingness is a crucial factor in anybody’s journey. And for me, it was really one of the most important things I had to do because I knew what kind of trouble I was in. I knew the way my life was literally falling apart. 

I mean, I was someone who was practically living on the streets. No, I really– I did live on the streets for a while. I was in serious trouble. But I had to find the willingness– the willingness– to do something about that. And for me, that meant the willingness to reach out and to ask for help. But it wasn’t easy. 

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You can order my book by going to guideposts.org/promiseofhope. Check back next week when I’ll share another inspiring guideposts 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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