First, let’s differentiate between hope and optimism. “Hope focuses more directly on the personal attainment of specific goals, whereas optimism focuses more broadly on the expected quality of future outcomes in general.” In other words, optimism is the belief that things will turn out all right; hope makes no such assumption but is a conviction that one can act to make things better in some way. (Arthur C. Brooks). Research has shown that hope is propelled by feelings and action — making it different than a wish. We can do something about hope! Research has also documented the impact of hopefulness on physical health, relationships, resilience and even the environment. Since being hopeful has so many benefits we need to promote it more fully. Let’s look at five ways to build hopefulness:
Building hopefulness into your life is a practice that yields many worthwhile results. Embrace the possibility that life can be better and ruthlessly eliminate the negative thinking that makes you feel hopeless. Just as we can learn hopelessness, we can also learn hopefulness — and trust me, it feels much, much better.
First, let’s differentiate between hope and optimism. “Hope focuses more directly on the personal attainment of specific goals, whereas optimism focuses more broadly on the expected quality of future outcomes in general.” In other words, optimism is the belief that things will turn out all right; hope makes no such assumption but is a conviction…
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Continue reading →We all felt a certain amount of anxiety when the COVID 19 pandemic started. So many unknowns were infiltrating our lives. What was going to happen next? What if… Now that we are in a less restricted phase of pandemic response, many people are still finding they continue to have higher degrees of anxiety than…
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Continue reading →Although this is known to be a joyous season it doesn’t mean that it is. The Holidays can cause a sore spot to fester even more. Perhaps you are experiencing grief or loss, or enduring a time of illness/chronic pain. You might be walking through a time of broken dreams or fractured relationships. These points…
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