“He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything.” Have you ever felt that you are on the brink of success?
That you can smell success in the air? That you can actually see success coming your way? That you can’t help but succeed in whatever you are doing?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then you have hope. Keep the hope alive success is actually coming your way.
We all hope for something. We go to school with the hope of having a better and brighter future.
No one on this earth can say that they have never hoped for anything in their life.
I believe that for as long as you have the breath of life there is hope for you regardless of your current situation.
We live our lives hoping for good things to happen every day. When we sleep we hope to wake up the next day at least I do.
We work with the hope of getting paid. It is hope that drives our lives.
What is Hope?
“Imagine every day to be the last of a life surrounded with hopes, cares, anger and fear. The hours that come unexpectedly will be much the more grateful” ~ Horace.
Let’s start by defining what hope is, “a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen.”
Hope is perhaps the most important source of motivation. Hope is the principal emotion towards the future.
Resilience is just but a benefit of hope. Hope is precise, the most central emotion related to the future.
We must, therefore, strive to acquire and keep it alive, if we are to achieve our intended goals.
With hope on your side, you can overcome mountains. You have come, this far in life because of the hope that is in you.
You have succeeded because you have kept the spirit of hope alive. Never lose hope or you will die.
It is hope that keeps me writing knowing that someone out there is being helped by my articles and I hope that am doing a good job.
Enhance Hope
Every one of us should know how to maintain and increase hope in ourselves.
I have devised a shortlist of the activities that help me enhance hope in my life.
If it works for me it could work for you, make the list a daily part of your habits. Remember that habits become character and character becomes your destiny.
- Hopeful thinking – make efforts to see good and better results when thinking about the future. What you expect from the start determines the future outcome. Broaden your thoughts about the future. Your thoughts are closely linked with your hopes. Remember always that you attract what you think. If you have negative hopes you will definitely reap negative rewards.
- Have positive thoughts – the more positive thoughts you harbour in your mind the more hope you generate. Look for specific and modifiable reasons to regain control over past failures and place hope in the future. Reject negative thoughts. Anxiety does not help, it takes away valuable energy from your batteries. Instead of being anxious send encouraging messages to yourself e.g. Henry you will definitely achieve your goals, this is just a temporary setback. Try again at the next available chance.
- Reflect on the past with serenity – focus on the pleasant things and appreciate them with gratitude. Doing this makes you look at the future in a more positive way. It is therefore very important that you learn from your past failures. I know that we all have failed at some point in life and believe me you will encounter failure in the very near future. Reflect and learn from it.
- In moments of despair break the cycle by – watching nature, entertaining yourself with something different, listen to music, talk to some old pals or just do anything that distracts you from your current thought patterns. We all go through challenges and it is just important that you clear your mind from them. gain composure and focus on resolving them positively.
- Be optimistic – hope and optimism are closely related, they always have been. Always have two ways of interpreting the same fact. Everything has a positive and negative side. Examine both but enjoy the positive side of results. There are many encounters in life that can be life-changing both positively and negatively. What you choose or follow is what will determine and shape your future.
- Reading and meditating on maxims of wisdom – is a proven method of elevating one’s motivation. Find peace and strength to nourish your hope. One very good book to read is the Holy Bible. You can never go wrong reading the bible. It is full of hope and helps to nourish your mind.
- Find a good social circle – hope does not only increase through your own influence but also through other people’s influence. Look for people who enjoy hope and be friends with them. Offer your help and see how well you will be received and appreciated. This will make you gain a vision of hope. Vision is an important part of personal development. Without vision and knowledge, it is difficult to achieve personal development.
- Encourage and give hope to others – personal growth also includes transmuting and approaching others with a positive influence. Speak hope to someone going through trials, encourage them, and make them believe that it is just a passing phase and that everything is going to be fine. I personally feel that it is our responsibility to offer hope and help to people who need it. In this vein, it is also very important that you ask for help when that time comes.
- Care for your physical well-being – take good care of yourself so that your thinking habits maybe hopeful. A simple and varied diet, rest exercise, and activity, plenty of water, the absence of toxic substances, and trusting in God can be of great help to enhancing your hope. When you are in good health you will spend less time worrying and spend more time hoping for good things. Let me encourage you if you are experiencing bad health to focus on getting healed and one best way to do it is to hope for the best. Focus your mind on being healed and hope for the best results.
Hope is a quality closely related to religious faith. Most of the religions are founded on hope or consider it as an important part of religion.
Hope links past, present, and future. Hope offers an eventual and definite end.
Keeping thoughts of courage, power, confidence, and hope all produce a positive state of mind. Hope;
- offers salvation
- is essential to survival
- takes more than a human effort to attain it
- brings about joy
- focuses on a perfect and eternal reward.
Conclusion
Hope is a quality that should be nurtured and kept alive in our hearts. Without it we cannot achieve our goals and personal development is but a mere philosophy.
Thoughts and hope are very closely linked and I encourage you to read my article “The power of thought” to help open up your mind.
Have a hopeful life and “standout tall and be counted.” Article revised on 15/07/2014.