Lisa David Olson

Hope is the thing that reminds me of the strength in my thoughts.

I’m on the frontline, working extra hours, and I’m being exposed to possible illness every day.

Hope reminds me to replace the frightened feelings with one of appreciation for the opportunity to provide for my family.

I read somewhere that it takes three positive thoughts to squish out one negative one. There are moments I think I can’t possibly think of three positive thoughts, so my go-to happy thought is remembering my brand-new bedsheets. They’re the softest sheets I’ve ever owned (one positive thought), they are moss green (that’s cool too, I’ve never had moss green bedsheets), and they line the nest I share with my patient, kind and very funny husband.

Hope is the thing that forces me to find the sunshine, the appreciation that I am healthy and able to work, the reminder to keep replacing a negative thought with three positive thoughts. Even when it seems impossible, and all I can do in the thick of the gray moment is to think of the soft sheets I’ll snuggle into tonight with my sweet man.

Hope is that thing.

I am Lisa David Olson—a speaker, humorist, author and podcast host. Finding the weird and quirky stories are my current fabulous adventure, when I’m not at the day job. I ran and performed in an award-winning comedy troupe for two decades, and boy, are my abs tired! Humor saved my life. Heck, it still does.