This Is How You Find Your Hope Again
To hope is to trust that there are still wonderful things ahead even though we cannot see them now
“The only trap I must beware not to fall into, is to think that each day is the same as the next. In fact, each morning brings with it a hidden miracle, and we must pay attention to this miracle.” — Paulo Coelho, Warrior of the Light
Hope came to me again that morning. For weeks, I have struggled with the exhaustion of trying to figure out what to do next. For weeks, I have been met with constant defeat after trying one strategy over another. It isn’t easy to find hope once you lose it. It’s like trying to keep believing in the light when you have gone blind.
But that morning, I found hope again. No, I wasn’t able to find a solution to my current problems. I wasn’t able to find a single clue on how to remedy the difficulty I was going through. But by looking at the sky just as the sun was beginning to rise, I found hope again. And it was enough to carry me through.
How do we find hope? Sometimes we find it in the simplest things like witnessing the sunrise, seeing a starlit sky or having a refreshing stroll after a hard day’s work. Sometimes it comes in ways we least expect it to, like an unexpected trip or a phone call from an old friend. Hope often takes us by surprise, but we can prepare ourselves for its coming.
Below are some of the things I’ve learned that could help us find hope again:
1. Do something different
Quite often, our sense of hopelessness comes from our wrong perception of things. If all that we could see are the things we keep on doing every day, we get the impression that there is no way for hope to come to us.
Why not take up a new hobby that could tap your hidden potentials? Why not try new activities that could help you discover more about your passion or your strengths? If you are someone who has rarely ventured outdoors, why not do some hiking with friends? Maybe you can also try a new sports. Do something different today.
2. Travel to new places
Sometimes, all it takes is a vacation to help us see new opportunities in life. When we travel, our inner horizon also expands. We free ourselves from a limited point of view that has been imposed upon us by the environment we see every day.
When I traveled to a new country, I’ve learned so many things that I couldn’t have known had I remained only where I was. I saw how different cultures can interact and learn from one another. I saw the world again as though I were a little child.
Hope is a little girl, nothing at all….
“And yet it is this little girl who will endure worlds.
This little girl, nothing at all.
She alone, carrying the others, who will cross worlds past…
Like a trembling flame.
She alone will guide the Virtues and Worlds.
One flame will pierce the eternal shadows….
— Charles Peguy, “The Portal of the Mystery of Hope”
3. Meet new people
Many times, we don’t need to go far to learn new things. We can simply expose ourselves to other people who can impart their wisdom and experience to us.
Even in our own town, there may be some people we haven’t been able to talk to or spend some time with. You’d be surprised at the beauty of each person’s story once you get to know them better.
4. Ask for help
Sometimes, we find hope by simply asking for it. Why not meet with an old friend or have a chat over the phone? For those who are alone, maybe you can contact someone who can speak to you as a counselor or a coach.
Ask for help. People may not know how to reach out to us or whether we need them in our lives. Ask and receive help from someone who can give it to you.
5. Help another person
It’s surprising how we can find hope when we try to help another person.
Perhaps the act of helping someone else takes our focus away from our own problems. Or perhaps dealing with the problem of another person helps us see our problems in a different light.
When we help other people, we often discover many things we failed to see in ourselves before — our talents, our inner resources, our ability to assist other human beings in need of affection and understanding.
6. Listen to uplifting music
Music has helped me a lot of times to remember that there is more to this life than the problems I’m going through.
It helps me get in touch with another world, a world where I can at least get a glimpse of light, harmony and peace. Try to listen to some uplifting music to soothe the emptiness you feel within.
7. Spend time with nature
Nature has been very helpful in refreshing my spirit whenever I become too weary to go on.
A walk along the beach is often enough to remind me that out there, my problems are not as big as I imagined them to be. When I’m simply gazing at a sunset, I feel that I don’t have to try to be anyone else but me.
I, too, deserve to see such beauty and nothing else is being required of me. I’m accepted and nurtured as the person I truly am.
8. Make a HOPE journal
Remember all those times you’ve found hope again and write them down. Writing them down will help you find a clue where you can find hope again. It will also remind you that hope often comes in the most unexpected things.
When you’re starting to lose hope, read your HOPE journal and see how many times you’ve been surprised by hope.
9. Take care of your health
Sometimes, our hopelessness comes from our changing moods, and our moods are sometimes affected by our health. When we lack sleep or when we have failed to eat a balanced diet, our hormones may come into play and work against our favor.
We need to regain balance by eating healthy foods, getting enough sleep and performing adequate exercise. Take care of your body because within it resides your eternal and precious soul.
10. Read about the testimony of other people’s lives
Read about the lives of people who have become successful after apparent failures in their lives.
Find out the many difficulties they have experienced before becoming the successful people you know now. Could it be that you are as near to success as they have been when they were experiencing hard times?
Read about people who have conquered poverty, disabilities, lack of opportunities and many other challenges that would have taken away hope had they not persevered to the very end.
11. Change your focus
Hopelessness is being limited and trapped. Quite often, we define our own limits by focusing only on the things that continue to imprison us. Change your focus even for a while.
If what drives you to hopelessness is your work, try to play with children. If it is a relationship that weighs you down, try to find some exciting things to do in your career. Problems aren’t always solved by thinking about them night and day. Sometimes, the solution comes when we’re busy doing something else.
12. Make an inventory of the things you still have
Hopelessness often comes from focusing on the things we don’t or cannot have. It’s like a loop that never ends. Try to list down instead all the things that you still possess.
This may include your health, your friends, your family, your work, your talents, your hidden potentials and even your faith. While these may not be your concern for now, all these things may help you realize the many things you can still do in life.
13. Look for past victories
Don’t underestimate your ability to conquer difficulties.
Look into your past and remember the countless times you were able to overcome the problems you’ve encountered.
Look into those times when everything also felt hopeless but you somehow managed to find a way to survive.
14. Look for evidence of your perceived limitation
Quite often, what we see as hopelessness is based on a generalized conclusion we have made without conducting the proper investigation for the facts that do exist.
What are the evidences that made you think there was nothing that could be done in your current situation? Are these evidences supported by other factors other than your opinion about them? Have you tried to ask other people’s views on the matter?
15. Expose yourself to beautiful things
Try to expose yourself to beauty. This can include a beautiful scenery or even works of art. Beauty may not directly solve your problems, but it can help revive your spirit. Beauty gives us a new way to look at things and thereby gives us hope by reminding us of the things we failed to consider before.
“Only this is true, that beauty is very beautiful, and softens and comforts, and inspires, and rouses, and lifts up, and never fails.” — Lord David Cecil
16. Do things little by little
We are sometimes overwhelmed by the huge task we see ahead. We think that with our present strength, we are not capable of accomplishing it. What we must do is to accomplish things little by little. By the small steps we achieve each day, we gain the confidence to overcome greater tasks.
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
17. Believe that this, too, shall pass
When we’re lost or in pain, we may fail to remember that even such things will pass. There is an end even to darkness. Maybe that’s why watching a sunrise has always inspired me. It has always reminded me that night shall always pass to give way for the morning.
“Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes,
Into your brother’s face…
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.”
— Maya Angelou
18. Rest
Rest when you can no longer carry on. Don’t try to think ahead. Don’t try to deal with all the pressure you feel. We all need some time to recharge and to heal.
To rest is not to be idle. It is to do something for your own good. We don’t rest to give up. We rest to have the strength to keep on fighting. We rest so we could continue to hope.
19. Believe in a Higher Power
It is exhausting to always rely upon your own strength.
We need to believe that we are not alone and that there is a Higher Power who can come to our aid when we can take no more.
Final Thoughts
We often lose hope when we feel we could no longer change a situation.
Our sense of hopelessness then comes from our illusion that we are in control of everything. Hence, when we can no longer think of a solution, we think there is already none. What we must remember is that there are other factors outside of us that can move and change things, things we may never have even thought about.
If we can accept this, we can hold on even when we can’t think of a solution right away. We can wait and we can prepare ourselves for its coming. We learn to hope for “hope”.
“I have found it very important in my own life to try to let go of my wishes and instead to live in hope. I am finding that when I choose to let go of my sometimes petty and superficial wishes and trust that my life is precious and meaningful in the eyes of God something really new, something beyond my own expectations begins to happen for me.” ― Henri Nouwen, Finding My Way Home
You may also want to look at this inspirational book to help you find the HOPE you need today: “Like Fireflies in the Rain” — click here.
This is a collection of some of my most inspiring poems. I have written many of them when I needed to endure the most painful moments, times when I had been grateful for the smallest ray of light I could find. I hope that like little fireflies that shine in the night, they also help you in your darkest hours. As you walk in the rain, all drenched and cold, may you find little sparks of hope to carry you through.