With all that is going on in this world around us, hope is a necessity! The wisdom writer Solomon said “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” Hope is a powerful force and being without it damages our entire being. Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines hope as “desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.” It also means “to expect with confidence: trust.” One of the best predictors of recovery from life’s blows is the presence of hope. I love the saying that hope is like the bird that starts to sing just before the break of dawn expecting the day to come forth. Having hope involves the will to get where we want to go and gives us ideas on how to get there.
Hope is not just a feel good emotion it helps us reach our goals. Research on hope over the past several decades has proven it to be a wonderful resource for motivation, and is a predictor of life satisfaction and ability to reach goals.
Hope is a vehicle that is proven to help a person use their abilities to get where they actually want to go in the future. According to the Hope Theory, “people with hope have both the will and the pathways and strategies necessary to achieve their goals” — even more important than self-efficacy and optimism!
Hope doesn’t change our circumstances but it changes how we see them. If we are hopeful we can see good possibilities in life even when struck by a negative blow. That is where we might ‘expect with confidence’ that the negative event will come to pass — potentially like a kidney stone, but it will pass!
Hope allows us to envision something getting better, which will help us to feel better. It can help make present difficulties easier to bear and give a glimpse of light in a darkened place.
Hope also grows a space in the future for restoration and redemption. Hope is often fulfilled through process. We were recently in a third world country and were moved by how pleasant and happy the people were. Unlike the many stressed out, unhappy, dissatisfied people back in Canada or the United States, these people were grateful,
content and kind.
Dr. Valerie Maholmes, who worked on research in this field said “hope involves “planning and motivation and determination” to get what one hopes for.”
This is why we call ourselves “Fresh Hope Counselling.” In my own life and over 20 + years of helping people through counselling, I have seen the essential nature of having hope. Hope is essential and we’d love to share our hope with you and for you.
