Hope shimmers in the distance, it’s within your grasp. Stretching every muscle, you grab it, and in the middle of a bleak struggle, there’s finally a chance for success, for happiness. But it’s a fleeting moment, dashed by reality as hope ebbs away, taking bits of your heart and soul with it.
The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Even when hope is lost, all is not lost. Having hope means a certain confidence or hopefulness for the future, for something's success. When what was anticipated- hoped for is off the table and things look hopeless, hoping for hope remains, even though humans are not technically built for the positive thinking that hope requires.
Human brains are hardwired to focus on the negative, emanating from our prehistoric days when we had to recognize threats to avoid danger and stay alive. This trait has remained in our genes and we still prioritise survival over happiness. Yet conversely, hope remains a powerful force. We are determined to overcome- also part of our survival instinct, and it’s that determination itself that illustrates our intrinsic optimism.
The Theory Of Optimism
Similar to hope, the philosophy of optimism philosophizes that the world is the best of all possible worlds and that life is worth living. Derived from the Latin optimum, meaning "best," optimism is a mindset or mental state in which there is hope for the future and confidence to succeed- if not right now, definitely at some point in the future. Because there is hope, there is a certain security to fail and failure is not fatal as hope will remain.
In his Philosophy of the Mind, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz, the German polymath and philosopher, had this to say about optimism:
"God assuredly always chooses the best."
Believing that the best of all possible worlds would actualize every genuine possibility, Leibnitz argued that with our finite experience of eternity, there is no reason to dispute nature's perfection. His theories include:
That perception, rather than consciousness, as Cartesians think, is what marks our mentality.
Everything, including plants and inanimate objects, has a mind or something like a mind.
Only soul-like entities can think or perceive. This implies that our minds must be immaterial or that we must have souls (and we will never be able to build AI that can truly think or perceive).
There is no genuine interaction between body and soul, but God created our bodies and souls in such a way that they correspond to each other naturally, without interaction or divine intervention.
It could be argued that an optimistic perception is part of the human soul- our core entity, that corresponds with what our body and mind do. Optimism is the passive state of being from which the action of hope is ignited.
The Meaning Of Hope
Hope, by its nature, is optimistic, but hope remains a fiercer driving force to counteract the passivity and resignation of cynicism. The philosopher and psychologist Erich Fromm noted the laziness of both optimism and pessimism, but argued that active hope empowers us "to think the unthinkable, yet to act within the limits of the realistically possible."
Whether it’s learned optimism or increased self-esteem, higher hope often delivers better outcomes. There are 3 kinds of hope:
Material Hope: The sense of control we get when we have the resources to deal with everyday life.
Socratic Hope: The chance to question an unjust society.
Audacious Hope: The hope to heal and the capacity to make it happen.
Where there is hope, the possibilities are endless. Yet our fears stop us from hoping.
Hope And Fear
Known as the patron saint of reason the French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician René Descartes describes the cure for indecision and prescribes how to acquire nobility of soul. He says that just thinking that a good outcome can be achieved or an evil avoided is enough for the desire for this to happen to come into being. come to pass.
But when we think our desire is likely to be satisfied (or not), the thought arouses hope in us, while the thought that it won't come to pass jealously arouses fear.
Descartes describes the relationship between hope and fear as:
Hope is how the soul persuades itself that what it wants will happen and delivers a mingling of joy and desire.
Fear is how the soul persuades itself that the thing won’t happen.
It’s possible to experience hope and fear at the same time.
Both hope and fear leave some room for the other.
Just as an abundance of fear could drive out all hope and leave us paralyzed to act, an abundance of optimism can drive out all fear and uncertainty, but is just as paralyzing to action, because it makes us complacent.
Descartes says that when hope is so strong that it drives out fear, it becomes complacency or confidence. Being so confident our desire will materialize, we do little to make it happen. Similarly, when fear is so extreme that there is hope, it turns into despair. When we see things as impossible, our desire is extinguished.
Finding the balance between hope and fear, optimism and pessimism, is key. By not letting unrealistic optimism drive us to ignore the work required to deliver our hopes, fear keeps us on track. But the wrong balance can mean hopes don't happen, no matter how optimistically inclined we are. When it comes to hope:
Sometimes we need to take a big leap of faith,
other times all we just need to have a little faith.
Hope And Faith
As fears dash hope- or at least keep it within reasonable boundaries, faith included in the fear-hope mix adds different dimensions. And faith has two seemingly contradictory meanings:
Faith In Self
Deeper than courage to have confidence, faith in self implies absolute conviction that you can achieve your goals. It’s certainty in your talents and abilities, and confidence that you are resilient and resourceful enough to overcome any obstacles.
Faith in self means being able to see the outcome and have doubts and uncertainty in externals, but still maintain absolute faith in yourself. While this sounds simple, it is incredibly difficult to convince yourself that you are good enough and that you are deserving- authentically and fearlessly.
The barriers to faith in self appear when we:
- Perceive our self-worth as that which others- including parents and family, see as our value.
- Focus on things we can't control- for example, financial struggles.
If you can look at a problem and establish if there is a way you can fix it, and then let it go if you can't, it not only gives you a chance to focus on what can be done rather than obsess over potential failure but also involves recognizing your personal boundaries and strengths- a significant step in finding faith in yourself, internally.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there”
Theodore Roosevelt
Faith In God
Hope has a specific meaning in theology. The confident expectation that we will receive what God has promised us, hope is a wish we express in words, thoughts, and desires. The hope is often tied to the depth of faith- the deeper the faith in God, the more we see His blessings.
In Theology, faith is an unwavering and absolute trust in God that comes from God's history illustrated in the Bible as reliable and trustworthy.
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Faith In "New Thinking"
Barring hope in God or self, numerous philosophies promise hope, based on the belief- or faith- that things we hope for will materialize. Some of these are:
Astrology: Jupiter is considered a highly spiritual planet, connected to spirituality, wisdom, and hope. While the original purpose of astrology was to inform the individual of the course of their life based on the positions of the planets and the zodiac signs or constellations at the moment of birth or conception, astrology could help us to find purpose and meaning.
Horoscopes- those daily or monthly predictions tend to be too vague to have any value, but are sometimes simply self-fulfilling prophecies. But they do give us hope that something good will happen in the day, week, or month ahead and that belief- or faith, immediately turns our focus to the positive, and our elevated state of joy supports our efforts to make things happen.
"Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power."
William James.
The Law of Attraction (LOA): While there isn't concrete science definitively proving the law of attraction, the concepts that are the basis of this theory are based on experiences. Brought to the public eye by Rhona Byrnes's book, "The Secret," the Law of Attraction is based on the idea that people and their thoughts are made from "pure energy" and that like energy attracts like energy, allowing people to improve their health, wealth, or personal relationships.
The theory postulates that if you set your mind hard enough- and there are different tools to use to do so, you can attract what you desire by hoping hard enough, and believing that it will materialize.
“Decide what you want, believe you can have it, believe you deserve it,
believe it’s possible for you.”
Rhonda Byrne
The Science Of Hope
Whatever the faith system- or the tools, hope is key...
Social science researchers in Arizona State University’s Center for the Advanced Study and Practice of Hope say that hope is more than wishful thinking and having hope is harder work than we may think. While hope in psychology is an active process- the cognitive practice involving the intentional act of setting goals and working toward them with purpose, hopeful students who participated in the study were better off in terms of health and ability to tackle future challenges.
But it’s important to know the difference between hope and blind optimism. The researchers suggest the ways to have hope include:
1. Take small steps for long-term success: Start by thinking about what you hope for, then make a list of actions that must be done to achieve these goals. Once you have this to-do list, it's time to envision bigger, longer-term goals and then see how the actions you achieve on your to-do list today will help you reach the final outcome.
2. Check in with yourself: Goals should excite and inspire you because, without the enthusiasm to achieve them, hopes will fade quickly.
3. Consider the context:
Different ethnic populations view and practice hope differently. Hope is part of the human condition but hopes and dreams differ vastly between different cultures. In oppressed communities, for example, people face adversity that is out of their control, and people who have been traumatized also experience hope differently. Where feelings of hopelessness are experienced, just hoping that we can have hope takes work.
4. Hope takes practice:
We often don't have as much hope as we'd like but the key is to focus on the smaller actions required to reach the goals as hope ebbs and flows. Now and then it may be necessary to step back and reconceptualize, or even realign goals by re-evaluating the toolkit that we approach life’s challenges with.
5. Foster a culture of hope:
Remember that hope thrives within communities that support and uplift one another. Being around positive people is good for the soul, but it comes with the responsibility to bring your own ray of hope.
“Life’s persistent and most urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’"
Martin Luther King Jr.
Hoping For Hope
Throughout our lives, we hit those times the ancient Sufis described as "The Dark Night of the Soul"- also a book by Thomas Moore, as those times in our life we hit where we lose all hope and direction in a seemingly never-ending process of hardship, despair, and suffering. We lose our anchors and feel lost. Even hope is lost.
Utter hopelessness feels like you are in a dark cocoon of nothingness, with no way out. All the best advice in the world seems meaningless and unreachable. Yet somewhere in the back of our minds we know our life has meaning and value, it’s just hard to figure out how to unlock the vault it’s buried in. The key is within yourself, even for PTSD sufferers.
Ideally, hope should be a daily practice, but until you acknowledge that you are worth the effort to find the key, it remains elusive. Celebrate tiny wins- if you found this article it's because you have hope, somewhere, even if it's an abstract thought for the time being. That's a win.
But- just in case there’s a thought that may inspire you, here are a few small things you may consider doing to find hope:
Read and learn: Often a small thought stays in the mind as you read. As you learn more, it becomes easier to identify and solve issues and there is immense hope knowing that others have experienced the same and have prevailed.
Be grateful: There is always something to be thankful for. Acknowledge it and say thank you.
Put a label on your feelings: When you know what you are dealing with, the ways to address it become clear.
People matter: Talk to hopeful people and lean into your friendships and support networks.
Put a plan in place to overcome that hopeless feeling, focusing on actions rather than outcomes
Keep a journal.
Stay present: Practice mindfulness and leave the past and future out of the equation.
Limit bad news intake.
Get moving: Exercise- even a short walk, does wonders to lift the mood.
Focus on what you can look forward to.
Most importantly, when you start seeing a glimmer of hope in the distance, grab it.
The Optimism of Anticipation And Hope
Anticipation is a noun, yet it’s a doing word. It’s the action of anticipating or expecting something. When it’s accompanied by the buoyancy of hope, optimism starts to trickle through. But it starts with doing something. Anything.
It may be taking steps towards developing faith- in God or yourself, but preferably both. Or it could be simply recognizing the triggers and learning how to overcome them. Every life is valuable, and each of us makes a difference to the world and the people in it.
The goal: Shivers of anticipation, shimmering optimism, and glimmers of hope.
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