2. What is hope?
A positive outlook on life’s challenges
A trust that events end will happily
A confident outlook on the future and life.
3. Hoping helps
Take responsibility for moving forward.
Difficult is just opportunities in disguise.
Repeat “I can do it … it will happen!”
4. Hope to be hopeful
Take responsibility for moving forward.
View goals as challenges not obstacles.
Keep a diary of goal-related thoughts
5. Conclusion
Be realistic.
Keep track of ideas and feelings of hope.
Be proactive in “the pursuit of happiness.”
6. References:
Changing minds (2010) Hope retrieved from
http://changingminds.org/explanations/emotions/hope.htm database.
Dictionary.com (2011) Hope retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hope
database.
Encyclopedia Britannica (2011) Hope retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/hope/BH_Intro.htm database.
Gini Bond (2011) There Is Hope For Stress and Anxiety! retrieved from
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=28966&cn=110 database.
Hope: Fostering Hope, page 172 & 173, 2004
Molly Edmonds (2011) What is hope? retrieved from http://people.howstuffworks.com/what-
is-hope.htm database.
Notes de l'éditeur
Hope is the motivation to keep that keeps us moving towards our goals. By utilizing the steps and techniques I mention below I will guide you through making a hope for the future a reality. Hope takes courage and a significant amount of trust. A trust in yourselves and a confidence that whatever obstacle you may encounter you will be ready. To do this you will need two important key elements. Hope is a combination of a level head and a brave spirit. Being brave in this matter down not me tough, although you will need to be strong enough to not become alarmed in difficult times; instead examine the situation and find an alternate solution. “[People] with high hopes are more skilled at finding alternative routes to their goals,” (Yoshinobu, 1989). This also means being level headed, and rise to whatever challenges come along in the future. Hoping for the best, but understand that life in unpredictable and may not be the way you wished it was, but still believing there can be a satisfaction gained in the end.
Motivation requires a great deal of effort and hope. In most cases the hope and effort has to come from within an individual and while external support is helpful it may not be enough to change the individual’s circumstances. Taking responsibility for doing what needs to be done and moving forward in pursuit of a particular goal required a desire that I be able to recognize that a difficult situation can really be an opportunity to look to the future; gaining an optimistic perspective. “And when obstacles do come, hopeful people continue,” (Hope, p. 172). Also, by reminding ourselves that we can and will, instead of might, cannot and do not; we stand a better chance of success.This could be for anything from daily chores and errands to learning a new language. If I were learning a new language, say Chinese, which I have heard is one of the most difficult languages, because it realize mainly on tone and pitch. I need to realize that while it may be hard, if I want to learn I will need to take the time to get better. After all, I do not want to just give up. After I have learned the language well enough and am fluent I would hope to be able to, eventually, teach my children, as well. This is a large goal, realizing that I have to maintain my enthusiasm will need hope allow me to stay focused on the task at hand. Understanding hope helps to understand that the difficulty of learning a new language is not a bad thing, but a way to motivate myself to complete and accomplish my objective.
Acknowledge whether or not the goals can be reached or not and is what steps would need to be taken to succeed in this venture. “Periodically, we all need to take inventory of our hopes and why we hope for the things we do,” (Diane McDermott and C. R. Snyder1999). Be specific. Saying things like I want to be rich or successful are not helpful because they tend to take away from the hoping process and generally seem unattainable. Breaking goals down into small “subgroups” allows us to develop a step-by-step process that focuses on each goal individually and is less overwhelming and helps to transition through this process along easier.When I get stressed creating a chart/list of the most important things I need to do allows me to focus my energy on each objective at a time rather than creating a picture of goals that seems unattainable. Charts and lists allow us to be organized, hoping also allows us to focus and be motivated to future aspirations. This is a basic idea that can utilize hope and logistic skills.
Hope can be the best and most important part of hoping. Having hope can create a deep and profound sense of joy in a person. Sometimes hope is the most important thing to keep an individual focused on what needs to be done, rather than how difficult a process getting the task done will be. Hope has the ability to help people help themselves do something that other people might think is impossible or observed. A little hope can make a huge difference and drive us to goals and success. Hope is a gift that we can utilize to achieve realistic goal; not fantasies. Insuring a sense of reality is a key element to making a hope a reality. This is what differentiates a hope and a dream; the tangibility of the idea and motivation of the individual. In times of stress and anxiety hope can be the only support that is needed to motivate us to achieving our objectives.
