Hope Whispers

By SarahJuly 14, 2014

Depression dominated my teenage years and adult life. I know what it’s like when the darkness descends upon your life and seeps into every area, a blackness so deep that it obscures your vision and prevents you from seeing a way through. I know how it becomes all you can think about, when there are days when just breathing hurts more than you can bear. I know what it means to have to fight for your life and to fight for your right to a future free from darkness. I know the pain of being judged and criticised for an illness you did not choose and would give anything to be without.

I know all these things but, more than anything, battling depression has taught me a good deal about hope.

Recovery is a long road, and it’s one I’m still travelling down. I still have days that feel like they’ll break me, days that take all of my strength to get through, days where I have to lean on other people. But throughout the journey, hope has proven to be stronger and braver than depression. Recovery for me has been about learning to listen.

You see, depression shouts. It hits you with wave after wave of negativity and lies, until that’s all you can hear. You start to believe all the lies it tells you; you believe that there is no light at the end of the tunnel and that it will never get better. But I’ve found that if you stop and really listen, you can still hear hope whispering.

Hope whispers in the kindness of friends. It whispers in those who stand by you and hold your hand as you take the first steps towards recovery. It whispers in those moments of simple joy and those moments where you cannot help but smile and laugh. Hope whispers in the words of health professionals who show you that recovery is possible and give you the tools to get there. It keeps whispering in those long dark nights, and it tells you that your story does not end here. These are golden moments that the darkness can’t steal.

I may have depression, but I also have hope. I believe in its power to break through the darkness. It has been the flickering flame that doesn’t go out no matter how fierce the storm rages around it. Truth isn’t measured in the volume of the voice. Sometimes the most precious truths can be found in those persistent whispers, in those words that pull us back from the edge, and in those words that ground us and keep us going.

I can remember my own dark nights. These were nights where I felt like I’d reached the end of the fight, I didn’t believe I would ever win. I wanted to turn my back on life and give up. But hope wasn’t done with me. It reminded me that no feeling lasts forever. It reminded me that though we may feel like we’ve been waiting an eternity for the dawn to come, it will break and scatter the darkness. I realized that my story could be one of hope if I let it.

Maybe you’re reading this in the midst of your own darkness. Perhaps the hurt and the pain have drowned out hope’s whisper, and you’re searching for a reason to keep fighting. If that’s you then let me tell you that hope is real. It hasn’t left you; it’s still there whispering beneath the noise in your head.

Or perhaps you are watching someone you love struggle with depression. Maybe you feel helpless in the face of the illness. I want to encourage you to keep speaking hope into their life. Your voice might be small compared to the voice of depression, but don’t underestimate the strength of a whisper.

There are brighter days ahead, days where the darkness will seem a distant memory. And every day there will always be hope. Your story is important. One day there will be someone who needs you to tell your story, someone who desperately needs you to hold out hope for them. For now, know that you are not alone, talk to someone you trust, and let them whisper hope back into your life. The voice of depression may shout loudly but hope will keep whispering. Don’t stop listening for it.

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“Hope Whispers” was written by Sarah Scarisbrick-Rowe

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Comments (25)

  1. jazmine

    Thank you. I need hope

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  2. Rachael

    I wish hope would speak a little louder, but it’s all that’s gotten me through living alone with depression. Thank you for your beautiful words.

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  3. Karen Cambanes

    Thank you for sharing it and letting people read this. It is amazing and it’s nice to know that I’m not alone when it feels like I am alone all the time. Thanks for sharing it.

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  4. David Atkinson

    Sarah, there are few who truly understand the invasion of depression upon one’s soul. There are even fewer that can express it in such a profound way. You are a real gem-precious-and your words have unlocked another door for me. For I, too, cannot deny the “whispers” I hear in the void. Thank you.x

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  5. Caroline

    Honey I totally agree with you. Sometimes hope comes from someone we love so much but as we are too sick to see or feel anything, we just can’t believe somebody will care and whisper hope to us.
    So thanks for your kind words and let’s find hope in any whisper.

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  6. Anonymous

    Thanks so much for this! Really encouraging

    Reply  |  
  7. Camille

    Always hold on to hope, I know it’s gotten me through most of my life

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  8. Tammy

    Sarah, that was wonderful! There is hope if you look for it. Just keep looking! Depression is an illness not many people see. You can be lost inside your own sadness and no one can see it. Find the one thing or person that can help to bring you out of that and then seek it always! Good luck to you! Thank you for sharing your words with everyone!

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  9. MaKara

    This was everything I needed and more! Thank you for share your rough times in ordered to make mine brighter!

    Reply  |  
  10. Wim Boerema

    Been there, done it… And still stuck in it for 15 years now… Never read anything like it before that pinpointed the feeling so accurate! I’m a Dutchman… And I’ll translate it to Dutch and post in on FB… Keep listening to the voice whispering love! One day I hope for you the whisper will become a clear voice and you’ll be at the end of that darned tunnel!!!

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  11. Annie

    Beautiful and powerful words x

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  12. Luana

    I’m dealing with depression and self-harm a long time. after a while I could only hear the voices of the darkness. I couldn’t hear my own voice and it made me worse every day. And it’s a constant struggle, and I’m on it. Even when the darkness take over my soul, I don’t give up trying to hear the cries of hope. I try to change, try to find a light .. and it’s was a big help, thank you!

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  13. Skyler

    Every word I’ve experienced myself. Depression doesn’t linger with me now but some times it comes back. You’re words are encouraging and I hope these words reach someone who really needs their message.

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  14. Mpho smally Gloria

    Thank u so sooo Much. I’m also the one who need hope to whisper in my ear

    Reply  |  
  15. Mpho smally Gloria

    Thank u so sooo Much. I’m also the one who need hope to whisper in my ear

    Reply  |  
  16. Anonymous

    I just want to cry when I read this, all summer I have been depressed and letting negativity lead me. The blog post have given me some hope to keep fighting.

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  17. Yvette

    My daughter fought for so long she battled and battled till she couldn’t fight anymore. As a parent I was in denial until I opened my eyes, the struggles the dark nights with my daughter will never leave me, but I no that twloha helped her in so many ways so I support your sight and anything you guys do to reach out to many people thank you and there is hope there is light just fight the good fight and don’t give up

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  18. Victor

    Everyday I think of killing myself. I try to look beyond it but it often gets the better of me. Thank you for the reminder of hope. In my loneliness, I look to it.

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  19. Joan Normandy-Dolberg

    I am a therapist in Virginia, USA and I work with many depressed individuals. I would LOVE to post this on my website, giving you credit for writing it. I think it would be an inspiration to my patients. Please let me know if you would be willing to let me do this.

    Reply  |  
    1. Sarah S-R

      Hi Joan,
      As far as I’m concerned that’s fine. So long as you give credit and link back to the original post on TWLOHA I’m happy. Really glad you liked it!

      Reply  |  
  20. Sarah V

    It is difficult to look in the mirror long enough to recognize who I am anymore. I too have been struggling for most of my life. I was hospitalized numerous times in my adolescent years, but now at 35 years of age, I am deeper into the darkness than ever before. It hurts to breathe. I despise the facade I portray every day of my life thus far. How I still cling to whatever hope is left is beyond all comprehension. I am so used to lying about myself I am lost. I feel as if my days are quite literally numbered, and a piece of what remains of myself dies every day. Holding, grasping onto hope. My inner most fears and demons are eating me alive. Silently I scream. Silently I suffer.

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  21. Chelsea

    Thank you for this.

    Reply  |  
  22. Sandy

    Thank you for sharing.
    I will definitely be listening more closely for the whispers.❤️

    Reply  |  
  23. Gina Mauceri

    CW: trauma + abuse

    This has helped me so much I need to hear from people who understand being in the dark and overwhelming healing of pain and the depression and suicidal thoughts of giving up trauma creates and how repressed memories come life poking repeatedly in first time emotions of unimaginable pain inflicted by your own mother using u to fill what she never was given by hers, to use all of your innocence and care and Love from the time u come into the world n u r setup for every pedophile and abusive person believing u have to take it to b good enough for what u think is Love the greif of all the abuse the emotions and pent in trauma that comes out in monster forms crazy insane no rhyme or reason to what’s been stored in my subconscious so yes I understand!!

    Reply  |  
    1. TWLOHA

      We are beyond grateful that you have found this post encouraging and comforting, Gina. We are also terribly heartbroken for the pain you have endured. We hope that you know you have a safe space to share at [email protected] and you can always reach out for assistance with finding professional support. There is hope and we are inspired by your vulnerability and willingness to share this part of your story.

      Reply  |  
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