Why does hope matter

One thing mental health challenges teach you is that emotions are unreliable guides when it comes to truth. But we do have to fight harder to hold onto those truths when the lights go out. Life comes with lots of voices clamouring for our attention.

It could just be the daily grind of everyday trials and disappointments that can steal our energy and joy. These situations and challenges can be loud and overwhelming. At times, we can get knocked off course altogether and put our hope in other things. It is the trust you have that when you go to bed at night, you will wake up to a new day that is filled with possibility.

The problem with desire, anticipation, and expectation is that when a particular thing is not forthcoming, they can disappear, leaving a void into which negative thoughts and feelings enter. Just think of a child opening his birthday presents.

He desires, anticipates, and expects a particular thing — a toy or bike, for instance. When this thing is not forthcoming, what does he do? He gets upset. He has a tantrum. He is not grateful for the presents he did get.

Hope does not depend on certainty. Hope is merely the belief that there is the potential for something good to happen. The light is not a particular thing. The light is just something good — the potential for something good. When we are at our lowest point, it is hope that lifts our head and shows us a path back toward something good. Remember, hope is akin to trust, and when your general feelings are negative, you must trust that they will pass. Kathy, Thank you so much for this post.

I was pleased to see that many of the things you mention are regular practices of mine. So, that was a nice confirmation to receive. What I appreciated most was the identification of hope as an active practice vs. Are you familiar with their work? Hi Sherri! Both are doing amazing work. I find all of this so very interesting and it sounds like you do too.

In my world, the world of disability and Multiple Sclerosis, hope is everything. Without hope, what is left? Hi Cathy! Good for you for living hopefully. As you say, can you imagine facing a challenging experience like what you deal with every day without hope? I do really appreciate how the new focus is on how being hopeful implies that it is a mindset that allows us all to grow and change and overcome circumstances. It is definitely appreciated! Hope and a positive attitude matter.

My husband, Randy, survived respiratory failure and 12 days on life support by receiving a double lung transplant I have blogged the whole experience , and I believe he survived for two reasons: the transplant team at UT Southwestern is awesome, but most importantly, there was a collective of people sending positive thoughts, healing energy, prayers, whatever.

I never believed he would die. You could feel the good energy coming in around him! An amazing experience. Hi Tam! I will definitely have to check out your site and read about it. I so love hearing great and inspiring stories like that because I think it raises the bar for all of us to hope more, knowing that in itself is a tremendous benefit to our lives. Kathy, I was feeling discouraged, so thank you for bringing hope back into my day.

This advice is so good, I am going to print this out and share it with my senior students who are feeling so hopeless at this time of year because of so many overwhelming demands — extended essays, research projects, personal statements, college application — and the uncertainty about the future. Hi Pat…. Thank YOU so much for your encouragement. I am glad to hear this article reminded you of stuff you probably already knew but had just forgotten.

There are also a few other articles on that page that are very encouraging for students. I am a mentor for high school girls here in my local community and I used some of the information when talking goal setting—I think it is such a great way to encourage students AND ourselves. Also, creating a positive environment with friends and limiting exposure to the negative world created by TV news makes perfect sense. Thanks again for an uplifting and information post! I have been a very positive and optimistic person my entire life, and even now, as I near the age of 53, I still very much find myself to be ever hopeful and positive.

Although, I find that when you hope for something, or are hopeful, you also need to act upon that sense of hope. Hoping, without the wherewith-all for working at a desired result, is, I believe, a detriment to the consequence of hope.

Hi Lyle…. Thom and I have been playing with that all week and it really helps to keep you focused on the future in a positive way. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Hope helps us define what we want in our futures and is part of the self-narrative about our lives we all have running inside our minds, hope also can provide the key to making everyday life better.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. What is hope? Some other aspects of hope? Hope makes us creative. Hope puts us to work. Hope tells us to get to work and pushes us to keep going, even when interest in that project flags.