What brings me hope:
Meeting fellow pilgrims of hope was uplifting
Photo submitted
By Rosalind Tompkins
Special to the Outlook
I attended the Speak, Sell, Shine conference with Dr. Pam Perry and team in Washington D.C., at the National Press Club to celebrate my birthday and I was blessed by the enthusiasm for and opportunities to present information about the Practice of Hopeology. It felt good to be among people who saw the need for hope as a tangible and plausible strategy to help alleviate the global hope crisis that is only getting worse as wars are plaguing our land.
One such person is Kelly Wright who is an Emmy award-winning anchor/reporter and former co-anchor on Fox News who also worked for the Black News Channel and is currently a Senior Capitol Hill Correspondent with NTD News in Washington D.C. Wright participated in the journalist panel where he talked about how he recently launched “America’s Hope,” which searches out stories from across different backgrounds, to find people who have turned tragedy into triumph and giving hope to those in despair. As the hopeologist that I am, I was blown away.
A hope connection was made, and I found out that he was coming to Tallahassee the next week and he scheduled an interview with me. I have participated in hundreds if not thousands of interviews since I have been in recovery these past three decades but this one was by far on another level.
As I sat in the chair facing Kelly, I first noticed the warm eye contact that showed that he was really listening to understand what I was saying. As the interview progressed I felt like we were at home in my living room drinking coffee and chatting. It was intense and interesting how he was able to pull out some of my story of addiction but not get stuck there and then tie it into what we are doing now with the Whole Hope Campaign. I did not know until later that he has interviewed former presidents, senators, first ladies, and everyone in between.
It brought me hope to meet a fellow pilgrim of hope passing through this barren land bringing hope to the hopeless by sharing life changing stories. I will share the link for the interview when it comes out. For more information about the Hope Campaign please visit www.makeahopeconnection.com.
Rosalind Tompkins, Ph.D., is author of “As Long As There Is Breath In Your Body, There Is Still Hope,” and other inspirational books. Tompkins is also founder of Turning Point International Church, the Chapel of Mothers In Crisis. She’s also founder of Turning Point International Alliance with ministries and churches in Pakistan, Nepal, Eswatini, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, and St. Vincent in the West Indies.
