Thinking Hopefully In Tough Times
Thinking Hopefully In Tough Times
Turn on the news and you’ll be bombarded with disaster stories—not only in your community but around the world. Even in conversations with friends and neighbors or on social media, it’s easy to get caught up in discussing how bad everything is. Sometimes, it’s enough to make you want to bury your head in the sand!
“Hope is a passion for the possible.”
Søren Kierkegaard
When things seem overwhelmingly bad, it’s important not to lose sight of hope. Hopefulness is an attitude that can support us when life is difficult. It reveals possibilities and combats negative thinking. A hopeful mindset not only helps you get through the tough times, it can help you grow and succeed in spite of them.
The trick, of course, is actually being able to remain hopeful. Here are a few practices and ideas to help.
Make a Habit of Gratitude
Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions human beings are capable of. It’s right up there with love as a potent and significant emotion. It can transform bad experiences, erase a negative mindset and set you up on a path that sees much more beauty and positivity on your life’s journey.
One of the easiest ways to stay in a state of gratitude is to create a gratitude habit. Start or end each day by listing the things you’re grateful for. Taking time to recognize gratitude tunes our attention to when we feel positive or thankful during the day.
Gratitude can also be a tool we turn to when negative emotions sneak in and begin taking over. Deliberately focusing on what you’re grateful for in the moment can help diminish the intrusiveness of negative thoughts.
Focus on What Is Working
When things go wrong, it’s easy to feel as if everything is going wrong. Being overwhelmed by what is wrong makes it difficult to put thought and energy into problems that can actually be helped by our attention. Focusing on what is working can be a remedy.
If we can pull our gaze away from everything that feels wrong, we’re sure to find things that are actually going right. Making a list is a simple way to help change your focus. For the big picture items, make a list of the things that are going right in your life, in your business and in your relationships. Print the list and hang it in a place where you can be reminded of them when you’re feeling overwhelmed. When negative thoughts begin to get your attention, return to your list. Accept and acknowledge what’s working.
This exercise can also work for short lived projects. When negative emotions come flooding in, stop doing and refocus. Make a list of what’s working on the project. Remind yourself of the positive goal or outcome you’re working toward. Once you’re clear about what’s working, you can tackle problems that you have some control over.
Create Positive Surroundings
Make space in your life for things or experiences that you love and people that support you. Emotions are contagious. When the people around you are negative, it’s easy to become negative, too. The contrary is also true. When you spend time around optimistic people, it’s much easier to feel hopeful about your own life.
When you’re surrounded by things you love or that make you feel good, it’s easier to focus on what is good. It starts in your personal space at home or work. Where you can, make your home comfortable. Place personal pictures or favorite quotes in places you’ll see them often. Buy pillows or blankets in designs you like. Paint your room or office a color that makes you smile. Spruce up an outdoor space with plants or flowers that give you pleasure. Simple changes to your regular surroundings can provide positive boosts as you go about your day.
Make Time for Personal Care
Taking care of your mind and body makes a huge difference in your ability to stay positive. Exercising, eating well, getting plenty of sleep and taking time during the day to meditate are all examples of good self care. If you don’t have personal habits for self care, consider trying them in incremental steps—adding an occasional walk around the block or 5 min of meditation at the start of your day. A little self-care goes a long way.
Maintaining a hopeful attitude can be challenging when life situations are difficult. Small choices can make a big difference in our attitude. Take care of yourself. Surround yourself with people and things that make you smile and remember to focus on what is good in your life. Above all, take time to be grateful.
Being positive won’t solve everything that’s wrong, but staying hopeful can help you see the possibilities just ahead.
Author’s content used under license, © 2008 Claire Communications
Further Thoughts
Negative beliefs and negative emotions are powerful. There are some experiences and emotions that overwhelm us in ways that make us feel stuck. When that happens, the hopeful practices recommended in the article above can feel impossible. Unsticking those negative beliefs may require the help of a therapist.
At Simmeth Counseling Group we use EMDR and other trauma informed therapy to help clients work through negative beliefs that hold them back from being their best selves. When people are released from the power of traumatic or negative experiences, they are much more able to make life choices based on hopefulness instead of worry or fear.
If you’d like to talk about how we can help you, please call our office at 818-681-6627 for a free, 15-minute consultation. We offer both in-person and video conferencing sessions. For those who are comfortable with coming to the office, and do not have other compromising health issues, we’ve instituted protocols for cleaning and scheduling.
Book Recommendation
One book we recommend often is John Kralik’s 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life. It’s a short, simple book that encourages readers to write thank you notes to people who influence their life in a myriad of ways, such as your child’s teacher, a grocery store clerk, your co-worker or a neighbor. It’s one more example of practical steps you can take to develop a life-changing habit of gratitude.
