Do you have hope, hope for a better tomorrow? We hope so, some pun intended.
In a world of COVID-19, civil unrest, climate change and more, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and feel helpless.
That is why hope is an essential quality, both a state of mind and an emotion. It’s not something to cling to, but to develop and cultivate.
It can find the light at the end of the tunnel, or there can be a “hope against hope,” with little prospects of success.
What is hope, then, and why is it so important for your life’s journey? Wikipedia notes that hope is an “optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.”
In life’s meandering journey to wholeness, hope serves as an energetic tonic to empower us and get us there. The “there” in the future can become, with hope, a brighter present. In other words, today’s hope becomes tomorrow’s better future.
Hope then need not be a desperate measure, a Hail Mary pass when all else fails. It can become a vibrant hope, filled with love, healing and more, brimming with possibilities. Without hope, you become less confident, more weary.For without real hope, life drains out of you till you eventually become hopeless.
Two Things to Understand
To get clear on your hope, it’s good to keep the following two pieces in mind. What do you expect and in which areas are you hopeful?
[pullquote align=”left”]Today’s hope becomes tomorrow’s better future.” [/pullquote]
Hope means you are expecting a better future, a better outcome. So there is your expectation and the different areas of your life where you have hope.
Measuring hope can be like evaluating success. Hope can be strong or weak. It operates at different levels in different areas of your life.
For example, if you’re doing well, say with your health, then you “hope” it will continue. On the other hand, if you’re challenged with your work or relationships, then you hope those will improve.
As for expectations, that is sometimes a misunderstood notion. Instead of expecting something good will happen, you are apathetic, or pessimistic, or doubtful. Or you think being expectant means you are clinging to illusions.
For hope to work, you need a realistic optimism. Not a pie-in-a-sky wish but it can be a miracle reframe with EFT .Or just a felt and reasonable sense that things can improve.
Here are four practical ways to be more genuinely hopeful to lighten up your life:
1. Overcome obstacles
Life is a messy affair. It’s a series of trials and errors, with many errors filled with “stuff” to sort out. The action calls for getting clear and repairing the errors. Then we access untapped energy and freedom.
To clear obstacles we use Holistic EFT or Spiritual Kinesiology (SK), proven tools to help release and become free.
2. Use your epigenetics
Epigenetics is a newer science that reveals that we are more than a fixed set of genes. It shines a new light on the relationship of nature and nurture.
Epigenetics shows that genes are turned on and off by our lifestyle and what we feel, think and do. In other words, how we live our life – the choices we make and our internal world – mostly determines our outcomes, what happens to us.
In The Power of Discord, Ed Tronick and Claudia Gold note “the lesson of epigenetics is one of hope. For just as gene expression can change to adapt in one environment, it can change over time to adapt to a different one.”
3. Open to possibilities
If you hope, possibilities naturally emerge. A powerful question to ask yourself is: “What is possible?”
Without hope, little seems possible. You resign yourself to your genes, history and lineage with their limited possibilities. You become a prisoner of your past history.
Yet with a spark, hope can ignite possibilities so you have the energy to break free. You can now use your past, learn from it and grow. Moreover, your possibilities lead to creative thinking and intuitive hunches.
4. Find resources
How do you follow up with emerging possibilities? Find resources that can make your dreams and goals come true.
Inwardly, your resources draw on thoughts, feelings, images and imagination. Outwardly, resources include information (such as books, videos and podcasts) and people (interviews and trusted people you can contact).
A Quick Hope Exercise
Imagine hope as an image, like a sun, beacon, star or something else… Now sense the image before you… let it settle in… and then bring it into your heart.
Remember this hopeful presence, as you carry it with you.
Final Thoughts on Hope
So hopefully you are getting the message.
Start by determining an area where you want to bolster hope (health, work, relationships or with the world at large).
Then clean out old baggage (with EFT or Spiritual Kinesiology). You are discerning your thoughts and feelings to express yourself, not to be boxed in by your genes. You are opening up to more possibilities and seeking resources to realize a better future.
More hope, more courage and confidence. That’s better, isn’t it?
[pullquote align=”left”]A vibrant hope, filled with love, healing and more, brims with possibilities. ” [/pullquote]
