Hope is one of the most important mental traits in life. Hopeful, we are halfway to where we want to go; hopeless, we are lost forever.
Optimism has many health benefits, not least of which is that it significantly improves our mental health. Hope reduces feelings of helplessness, boosts happiness, reduces stress, and improves our quality of life. Hopeful people are able to face even the most negative times with a positive attitude. Hope in general means a desire for things to change for the better, and to want that better situation very much.
Having hope links your past and present to the future. Being hopeful is looking on the future positively. To see opportunity in challenges (rather than challenges in opportunities), to “look on the bright side of life.”
When those events are potentially negative, hope is the ability to see the possible good in future events.
“As long as we have hope, we have direction, the energy to move, and the map to move by.” – Chinese proverb
Blind hoping is not expecting every positive thing to fall into your lap. Nor expecting yourself to magically avoid every potential danger. To have hope is to want an outcome that makes your life better in some way. As a verb, its definitions include: “expect with confidence” and “to cherish a desire with anticipation.”
It’s a part of being a human
Everyone hopes for something. It’s a part of being a human,… a be-ing. It helps us define what we want in our future and is part of the self-narrative about our lives we all have running inside our minds.
Worry and fret over past or future events bring about depression and anxiety. Hope gives a glimpse of possibility not seen in the darkness. “Hope is a match in a dark tunnel, a moment of light, just enough to reveal the path ahead and ultimately the way out.” – Dr Judith Rich
It not only can help make a tough present situation more bearable but also can eventually improve our lives. Because envisioning a better future motivates you to take the steps to make it happen. Hope brings peace of mind.