Hope is a Mysterious Beast, clinging tight onto it but keeps falling off the more we hold onto it, stuck in the dark, Hope beacons help with self-worth, self-belief and confidence, Encouraging you to take positive action, Encouraging you to surround yourself with like-minded people, Reduces sadness and anxiety, Creates opportunities.
As the world confronts the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, including an associated mental health crisis, finding meaning and building positive processes and capacities will help strengthen future mental health
Positive psychology studies adaptation to adversity and aims to identify factors that favour good psychological adjustment, as well as physical and mental health. As cited Schiavon et al., defined “Hope as a state of positive motivation based on three components: objectives (goals to be achieved), pathways (planning to achieve these goals), and agency (motivation directed toward these objectives).” Hope theory emphasizes the presence of personal agency related to goals and the recognition of strategies to achieve those goals. Therefore, this theory suggests that a hopeful person would endorse statements such as “I will achieve my goal,” but also “I have a plan […] to achieve this goal” and “I am motivated and confident in my ability to use this plan to achieve this goal”.
Hope theory is not the only perspective that distinguishes hope from optimism: Herth’s model of hope assumes that it is a cognitive and motivational attribute needed to initiate and support action toward goal achievement.
Hope can erode when we perceive threats to our way of life, and these days, plenty are out there. As we age, we may struggle with a tragic loss or chronic disease. As we watch the news, we see our political system polarized, hopelessly locked in chaos. The coronavirus spreads wider daily; U.S. markets signaled a lack of hope with a Dow Jones free fall. Losing hope sometimes leads to suicide.
Hopelessness is a feeling that things will not and cannot change and creates a sense that there is no solution to a problem, which can increase the risk of suicide. Whilst hopelessness is not the sole cause of suicide, having hope in our lives can significantly reduce the risk.
First, hope is not Pollyannaish optimism that assumes that a positive outcome is inevitable. Instead, hope is a motivation to persevere toward a goal or end state, even if we’re skeptical that a positive outcome is likely. Psychologists tell us hope involves activity, a can-do attitude and a belief that we have a pathway to our desired outcome. Hope is the willpower to change and the way-power to bring about that change.
With teens and with young or middle-aged adults, hope is a bit easier. But for older adults, it’s a bit harder. Ageing often means running up against obstacles that appear unyielding – like recurring health or financial or family issues that just don’t seem to go away. Hope for older adults has to be “sticky,” Persevering, a “Mature Hope.”
When there is no hope when people cannot picture the desired end to their struggles they lose the motivation to endure. Choose a “Hero of Hope.” Some have changed history: Nelson Mandela endured 27 years of imprisonment yet persevered to build a new nation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt brought hope to millions for a decade during the Great Depression. Ronald Reagan brought hope to a world that seemed forever mired in the Cold War.
Hope changes systems that seem stuck. Regardless of how hard we try, we cannot eliminate threats to hope. Bad stuff happens. But there are the endpoints of persistent hope, We become healthier and our relationships are happier. We can bring about that hope by buoying our willpower, bolstering our persistence, finding pathways to our goals and dreams, and looking for heroes of hope. And just perhaps, one day, we too can be such a hero.
Hope is also a very personal thing and you mustn’t measure your goals as influenced by others. Your aspirations are personal and important to you. Hope reduces feelings of helplessness, increases happiness, reduces stress, and improves our quality of life.
Forgive, Participating in a forgiveness group, or completing a forgiveness do-it-yourself workbook, builds hope. It also reduces depression and anxiety and increases your capacity to forgive. That’s true even with long-held grudges. I’ve found that successfully forgiving someone provides a sense of both the willpower and way-power to change.
