What is "hope"?

There is a bit of a feeling of 'hopelessness' doing the rounds right now. Situations are 'hopeless', people are 'hopeless', and our future is mired in foreboding 'hopeless' inevitability.

People respond to seemingly 'hopeless' situations in a number of ways. Some want to run, some want to fight, and some want to bury their heads in the sand and wait for it all to blow over.

Right, but what is hope?

Hopefulness in Times of Despair

There are a few accepted definitions:

1. "A feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen”

Hope attaches happiness and wellbeing to the occurrence of a specific outcome or result. This requires very little action from the hopeful individual beyond casting a vote, purchasing a lottery ticket, or showing up to support your team, as way of example.

2. A thing, situation or a person

Obi Wan Kenobi was Princess Leah's "only hope".

Hope may be a treatment, operation or final attempt at fixing a problem. It is an object, the presence of which is required to potentially produce a desired outcome.

3. A mindset

Hope is a mindset of hopefulness. It is driven by an internal belief in better. It believes that no matter the state of things right now, something can still be done.

We need this type of hopefulness in our world right now. Not a hope that is pinned on one court ruling, or a certain person becoming the leader of a movement.

Hope that relies on me winning and you losing is not true hope.

Hopefulness is a hope that transcends everything the world can throw at us. It flies higher than the cynicism that tells us that we are doomed and is courageous and strong. It is focussed on higher priorities and the power we all have to create change in any moment where we are, with whatever it is we have at our disposal.

According to Charles Snyder in his Hope Theory, hopeful people have three core beliefs running through their outlook on life: Goals, Pathways, and Agency.

Hopeful people:

Know what matters and where they want to get to (goals).

Don't give up when things don't go to plan. They are dedicated to finding alternative routes towards their goals (pathways).

Don't pin their hopes on external forces or outcomes. They take responsibility for their own response to disappointment, they don't allow cynicism to beat them and they know that they always have a choice that can lead in a better direction (agency).

Hopefulness understands that every human has the ability to change the world in small and incremental ways. It sees the small things as the most important things because they add up into the big things that have the deepest roots. Those roots might be good or bad.

Culture is founded by small things; it is the big picture made by the small habits of individuals over time. Hopeful people take this truth seriously.