Hope is a feeling that there’s a solution. We are hopeful for good things to happen.

What does it mean to be hopeful?

Hope is a Balancing Act

When challenges arise in our lives, we can take two different approaches. We can be skeptical of the outcome or be hopeful for the best. Being skeptical seems careful because it looks at the problems that could arise and addresses them. Being hopeful can seem careless. If you aren’t focusing on the problems, how can you be sure they don’t cause harm? Where is the balance?

Although being skeptical can be a tactic to avoid harm, without a balance of hopefulness, opportunities can be missed. It’s important to remain hopeful even when the threats seem overwhelming. Hopefulness will keep you open to solutions not readily apparent.

Hope is keeping an open mind to possibilities you cannot imagine.

When my efforts to get where I’m going have failed, I like the idea of hoping for something to happen and waiting for the result to surprise me. This letting go of the process requires faith. Faith in what? Does it matter? Do I have faith that my life can be positively affected by something outside of myself? I may say, “well obviously yes”, but what do I think and what do I believe about this? Can I wait in hopeful anticipation for something good to show up?

You can be hopeful for something to happen even though you can’t envision what it is. This is a different level of hope that isn’t based on past circumstances or your abilities.

Hoping for something good to happen even though you don’t know what it is relies on powers, influences, or talents from someone or something outside of yourself. This could be intangible, spiritual, or through circumstances beyond your control. Hoping this way brings you outside of yourself and connects you to community with the world, with the divine, or to ideas you don’t yet see.

This is a place where hope shows its power!

Why is it a good habit to be hopeful?

Hope is a good habit because it opens our minds and hearts to new ideas. Without hope for a solution, we close ourselves to possibilities that we can’t see immediately. If I’m hopeful that the puzzle can be solved, I’ll keep focusing on it until a solution comes.

Hope also motivates people to act. If I’m hopeful that studying for a test will get me the grade I want, I’ll spend time studying! If I don’t think studying will help, I am won’t be motivated to study. The grade will be based on what I know now.

Hope helps us keep going when failures arise. We become more resilient when we believe a bit more effort will bring us to the desired outcome.

Being hopeless is a sad way to live. When you close yourself off to your dreams, you live in a stagnant world where things just stay as they are. There is no hope for better tomorrows.

Hope can be a lifeline. Sometimes it’s the only thread that keeps an idea alive. Sometimes it’s the peace that’s needed to wait until the solution can come. Other times hope in something brighter around the corner and is what’s needed to go on.

Why not hope? None of us know what the future holds. In the midst of uncertainty, why not hold onto hope? Why hold hopelessness in the space between the problem and solution? Regardless of how things turn out, the time in between can be spent happy and healthy.

Hope strengthens our spirit. It’s both courageous and vulnerable.

How can you become more hopeful?

Try some of these suggestions to become a more hopeful person.

1. Exercise hope - this will build more hope. Dare to believe difficult problems can be solved, relationships can change for the better, and you are capable of more than you are now.

2. Hang around hopeful people because they will make you hopeful too.

3. Don’t’ spend too much time with those who aren’t hopeful. We become like those we spend time with.

4. Focus on the things you’re grateful for. This focus will raise your awareness of the good in your life.

5. Be intentionally optimistic. Practice seeing solutions and good outcomes instead of the opposite.

6. Manage your stress. A high level of stress brings out a less hopeful outlook.

7. Don’t compare your life to others because this will cause you to see the gaps in your life. We all have them and that’s normal. Choosing not to focus on what you don’t have but what you DO will increase your hope.

8. Write down how you feel when you are hopeful and how you feel when you are hopeless. Look at each list and choose the one that makes your life better.

Hope is not a strategy, but it’s a necessary component to a good life. It opens more doors, provides more joy, and is an easier way to live.