Recently, I heard a family member talking about a conversation they had with a good friend.  After a rough start to the day, their phone conversation left her encouraged and thinking a little differently.  Venting for several minutes, she relayed the challenge of the early morning hours and his response was simple, you can choose to live like Eeyore or you can choose to live like Tigger.

I immediately understood the parallel.  Pooh Bear often finds his way to our television set with great fanfare.  Eeyore, if nothing else, is very predictable.  The storm permanently settles over his world.  Every experience is tainted with the expectation of failure.  His life filter leads him to appreciate little and complain much.  Eeyore is lovable and occasionally surprised by the grace life shows him yet he quickly returns to the color of his coat, blue.

Tigger on the other hand chooses to see life as an adventure and difficulty as challenge.  He embraces each day as one to bounce through and enjoy.  Occasionally, Tigger drifts into momentary despair but quickly resumes his happy-go-lucky existence with renewed vigor.  He teems withe energy and life and has a personality which draws one in.

In a world tinged with difficulty expounded by the current state of our economy, there appears to be reason to despair.  Yet, we have a choice to live life as Tigger or Eeyore.  The difference is a simple word, hope.  I don’t mean the hope recently chanted by presidential candidates.  Hope can’t be relegated to the policies of one man or an administration.  Hope isn’t contained by a government and isn’t found in bailouts.  Really, hope has little to do with our circumstances and everything to do relationships – particularly one relationship.  Romans 15:13 states, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  Genuine hope in life is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  And this hope is not a wish or desire but a reality for those who put their trust in Him.

The question then remains for those who follow Jesus; do we illustrate this hope?  Do you live by hope?  No matter how sharply the 401k falls or deep the recession strikes, God has not relinquished control.  His promises remain and hope never fades, not eve a little.  So, followers of Christ have every reason to live with the right poohspective.  It is not simply blinding oneself to the negative side of life, but choosing to remember the temporary nature and awesome mission of the time allotted to each of us.

So who are you,  Tigger or Eeyore?