Without hope we are castaways adrift. There is no shore to reach. We live without horizon or direction. Without hope there is only surrender.
It is hope that enables individual and collective actions that bring with them a transformation, a change that can improve our current situation and perhaps the world.
But as many experts point out – and also mental health figures – We live immersed in a crisis of hopeespecially at a collective level. Ideals seem illusory and fanciful to us. There is a lack of references that mark a direction in which to go to create a world that feels «home».
There is a lack of models that invite us to carry out «small revolutions» that we need so much so that the Earth and the living beings that inhabit it have a future. So is it possible to regain hope?
yes you can recover hope
When I was about three years old My father died and my mother was left to raise nine children.many of them very small. I have often wondered where he got it from my mother the force to wake up the day after my father’s death.
The truth is that We all have that inner strength that pushes us to move forward.that survival instinct.
«We all have that inner strength that is activated with a challenge. It is not about external wealth or poverty, but about an internal wealth that is within us,» he explains. Juan Guillermo Ocampo, creator of the Medellín Music Schools Network program in his conference «The strength of hope».
Ocampo decided to feed the flame of hope among the boys and girls of the poorest and most helpless neighborhoods of Medellín with music. He distributed different symphonic instruments among them and taught them how to play. Very soon, together, they reached such a good musical level that they starred in concerts in different cities in Europe. They achieved what seemed impossible because no one told them they couldn’t.
Another example that we can regain hope. After the Paris attacks, the journalist Monique Atlan and the philosopher Roger-Pol Droit they called recover hope and integrate it into our thinking.
«We can find her again and feed her, because It is a small flame that sometimes goes down, but does not go out. Yes, hope continues to be our most vivid resource, a force that keeps us going, that keeps us going even in the darkest moments.
It is hope that led the resistance to compromise [contra la invasión nazi]the one who gave birth to children in the most sordid places, Hope is the most beautiful, most irreducible and most human force.«say the authors of L’espoir at-il un avenir? (Flammarion Editions).
hopeless: how to regain confidence
We have left the new generations without hope. What do we need to recover this feeling?
During the year 2021 in Catalonia, The Telephone of Hope (Aid and Hope Foundation) answered 48,893 calls from people with mental health problems (31.85%), relational problems (21.88%) or a state of unwanted loneliness (17.41%) that they felt desperate.
«The Telephone of Hope volunteers do not perform psychotherapy, but non-professional emotional support in which the person tries to regain hope in life and their ability to solve her difficulties, either by herself or by asking others for help.
Mainly, this is achieved building a safe space in which the person can openly talk about sensitive aspects of their subjectivity without feeling judged. Listen with respect and interest, with an attitude of non-judgment and a look of unconditional acceptance.
In this listening process, a link is woven that allows the user to perceive the volunteer as trustworthy, which has a multiplying effect: I trust in the other and the other trusts in me, and this allows me to trust in myself and in life again.«says Clara Campaña, from the communication department of the Ayuda y Esperanza Foundation.
hope is contagious
For the naturalist Jane Goodallwe have reasons to feel hopeful if we accompany this feeling with actions and commitment.
«People tend to think that hope is a passive illusion: ‘I hope something will happen, but I won’t do anything about it.’ This is, in fact, the opposite of the true hopethat requires action and commitment.
Hope is contagious. Your actions will inspire others. […] Hope is what allows us to face adversity. This is what we want to happen, but we have to prepare and work hard to bring it about«says Goodall in The book of hope. A survival guide for difficult times (Ediciones Paidós), written with Douglas Abrams.
This work also provides examples to continue trusting that change is possible if we join together to row in the same direction.
«The cumulative effect of thousands of ethical actions will help save and improve our world for generations to come,» says Jane Goodall.
OPEN AGAIN
Like the pear tree that survived the attack of the twin towers and still blooms in spring, We are nature and nature is resilient. But simply hoping for better tomorrows is a limited form of hope.
When everything is darkness, in addition to feeling that the light shines at the end of the tunnel, It is about finding the internal and external resources that allow us to move forward.. It is about overcoming the paralysis that can come from pain and going beyond it by committing to life.
The key is to open up instead of closing inin finding thoughts that allow us to believe that new paths exist.
Hope is a voice that tells us that we are capable, that today’s damage can be diluted tomorrow for us, that Behind the difficulty an opportunity can hide.
This belief is what will allow us to develop our creativity. and maintain willpower because it makes us trust in life and in ourselves. Keeps us optimistic in the face of difficulty, giving us the impulse to take a first step towards something better.
ACCEPT TO ADVANCE
But this hopeful feeling must be accompanied by objectiveseven if they are small, because as Hannah Arent says, «action is a genuine human faculty of miracles.»
Hope committed to action It requires a certain stubbornness to maintain the effort over time.
You also need put your feet on the ground. It is not about believing in a hope that leads us to flee from the present or reality, but rather that, despite the disaster, gives us the possibility of explore before giving up.
The positive hope It is one that allows us to cry for what is no longer possible, but allows us to glimpse what can still be. AND starting from the acceptance of what is, act accordingly.
It’s about giving ourselves the opportunity before giving up and seek support by creating a community, making a tribe.
Union is strength and also hope because, when one declines, it may be the other who takes over.
6 actions to regain hope
Acceptance, looking for references and embracing new experiences They help you get out of the tunnel.
1. STOP FLEEING AND ACCEPT
Living more in the future than in the present is the great danger of a hope that distances us from reality. Stop denying what is and expressing pain helps to regain useful hope. By accepting what is, we can move forward.
2. FIND THE MEANING
«Nothing is stronger than a little hope that doesn’t give up,» writes Matt Haig in The book of hope (ed. Contraluz). To maintain tenacity and not waste the miracle of being alive, nothing better than having a why.
3. LISTEN TO MUSIC
H. Arlen and Y. Harburg wrote Somewhere Over The Rainbow in 1939, one of the most difficult years for humanity. A simple song can lift our spirits and take us out of despair. Create your list for difficult times.
4. CREATE YOUR OWN TRIBE
Faced with a problem that leads us to despair, turn to a support group, associations and organizations who fight for what we want, will help us develop an active and committed hope.
5. LOOK FOR BEAUTY
contemplate something beautiful It gives us hope, like a smile, the gesture of a child, a story… One of the most powerful beauties is that of nature, because It connects us with transcendence and reminds us that, over time, everything changes.
6. FIND REFERENCES
Hope is often lost when feeling lost. Treat us with affection will help us think about people who inspire us and serve as an example for their ability to overcome or way of proceeding or relating.