Episode Details

The resilience class I’m taking has given me so much to think about.

This week, we talked about composure and health and how both affect our lives as a whole.

One of the ideas Dr. Donita shared was the practice of being persistently hopeful.

I love that phrase.

Being persistently hopeful doesn’t mean ignoring what’s difficult or pretending everything will work out exactly the way we want.

It means staying in the present and actively choosing to hope from all the options available to us.

Because there are always other options, aren’t there?

We can assume the worst. We can replay everything that has gone wrong. We can try to solve problems that haven’t even happened yet or worry that things will not go well. 

Or we can return to what is true right now today. 

We can ask ourselves things like: what can I do today? What support is available? What possibility still exists?

Persistent hope is not passive. It’s an active decision we make again and again, sometimes maybe a few times a day. Today, when your thoughts begin pulling you toward fear or you feel yourself thinking about the worst-case scenario, try to bring yourself back to this moment.

You don’t have to figure out everything that comes next.

Just persistently choose the most hopeful option available to you right now.

That’s how we build our hope habit, by being persistently hopeful.