ACCORDING TO HOPE

How often do we express hope?  Do we really believe that hoping will make it so?  Or, do we express hope to convince ourselves that whatever we hope for can be the answer for our thoughts? What is hope?

According to the dictionary, it is defined as the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. As a verb, it includes “expect with confidence “and “to cherish a desire with anticipation”. Its opposites include feelings of rejection, hopelessness and despair.  Overall, hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.

Positive psychologists such as Barbara Fredrickson recognize that hope comes into play when crises loom in one’s life by opening new creative opportunities. She asserts that a wide range of ideas, as well as positive emotions, can arise from one’s self awareness such as empowerment, courage and joy. She says hopeful people are “like the little engine that could by keep telling themselves “I think I can, I can”. Such positive thinking occurs when based on a realistic sense of optimism, not on a naive “false hope”. Charles Snyder and Alfred Adler linked hope and willpower with determining a reachable goal. Snyder postulated that there are three main things that comprise hopeful thinking: (1) Goals-approaching life in a goal-oriented way, (2) Pathways-finding different ways to achieve your goals, (3) Agency-believing that you can instigate change and achieve these goals. Snyder believes that hopeful people can accomplish these three goals with perseverance even when obstacles get in their way.

It seems that being optimistic is an inherent component of hope.  One of life’s greatest challenges is be positive in one’s thinking regardless of the obstacles we face or the dreams we have for the future.