"What you do matters. How you treat others matters. Share your authentic self. Be transparent.

Be kind."

Love that Barbara -- I share the same philosophy...the longer I live the stronger I believe in it.

Please share what has brought you a sense of hope.

Relationships with others who are authentic who accept me as I am, who trust me with their pain and successes, and vice versa -give me hope that whatever lies ahead - I am surrounded by those whom I want to be with. The beauty of growing older is that you truly lose the need for things outside of just "people" -- at least for me that is.

Medium has given me a sense of hope to be able to pursue some challenging goals, grow and be better at something I never thought I could do. Stories in Medium have given me hope...And in the end -- it still goes back to the people; you the writers who are as authentic as they come are the ones guiding me.

Share if you trust your inner voice.

I have. It used to be so different -- and I think in many ways, I'm still learning to hear that voice. I trust it, but that voice many times has fear and doubt. So I say: why listen to that voice and try to encourage the confident voice to speak up. That's where I have trust issues.

And how have you received answers to your questions -- mostly within, and from what I see and learn in others lives. I like to listen. I love to observe -- there is so much happening around us that can teach us if we really pay attention.

Thanks for asking -- and thanks for responding and sharing these thoughts with us. Much love Barbara!!