Hope: Why it’s worth fighting for

There are some days, where you simply ‘have’ hope. It’s just there. And then other days, you really have to fight for it.

A quote that I love and can really relate to is “Sometimes you have to fight a battle more than once to win it”. If depression, anxiety or other struggles are something you go through regularly, you will know this. And because you have been through it before, you might already know in your heart that you can still have hope… you have been through this many times before, and every time, you have got through it. So you know you can get through it again. You have hope.*

However, knowing this doesn’t always stop everything from seeming too overwhelming and difficult. It doesn’t always stop the dark hole of depression from opening up, especially if you have not gone through this before. But hold on. Hope is real. And this is why you have to fight for it:

Definitions of Hope:
 – noun; A feeling of trust
– noun; ‘Some hope’, meaning ‘some chance’
– verb; To cling to a possiblility

Hope is a big and beautiful thing… It is us trusting in the greater good… It is us clinging to the possibility that there is some chance that everything will be okay. Hope is not faith, hope is simply holding on. Right now, I am hoping that I will feel mentally and physically okay enough to get through this upcoming week, which is looking to be a particularly difficult one for several reasons. I am hoping – holding on to the possibility – that I will be able to get through it just fine, and by hoping, I am putting myself into the mindset that I will be able to do this, which brings me to my next point.

Benefits of Hope:
 – Hope is a powerful therapy
– Hope encourages positivity
– Hope helps us approach problems with a successful mindset and strategy
– Hope improves self esteem, confidence and mood
– Hope creates ability
– Hope maintains joy

Hopelessness drains us, and pessimism saps us of will. Hope = Will and Determination.
Hope is not just a feel-good emotion. It has been scientifically proven that hope is beneficial for one’s health; hope is a dynamic cognitive motivational system and is healthy for your mind and body. People with a more hopeful outlook on life are actually healthier than those who are continually pessimistic and negative. Hope is good, and it’s what keeps us going through the hard times.

Why You Need to Fight to Keep Hope:
Hope is necessary for our well being, and it is what keeps us going through the rough patches in life. It’s so important that we don’t become drowned by the everyday negativity, because then we begin to lose hope. Believe me, I know what it’s like to lose hope, to hit rock bottom, and to fall lower than you ever thought possible. I lost hope. I was ready to give up. But by God’s grace, I found hope again, and now I’m going to be okay. No, I’m not okay all the time, and sometimes I still hit that really low place, but I can get through it. Why? Because I have HOPE. I have been through this time and time again, and because I have made it through every other time, I can make it through again. I’m desperately holding on to the hope that I have of recovery, that tomorrow will be brighter, and that I will not feel like this forever. An acronym for HOPE that I really love, is:
Hold
On
Pain
Ends
It really does come to an end, so please, hold on. You might be wondering how to fight to keep hope on the really bad days. I’ll be honest here, sometimes even I still wonder this myself. But right now, I know that we have to try our hardest. A few tips for you that I like to use to hold onto it, is to seek out the joys in every day. I keep a journal each day, where I don’t write anything negative, I simply write the good things of the day. On the great days I might write a page or more! On the bad days, I don’t write that I had a bad day. I just think of the good things that happened – a blue sky, a perfect cup of coffee, fun had with my little boy, or even really random things like a funny meme I came across or my favourite song playing on the radio. Just search for the small joys, because they’re never silly – sometimes it’s the small things that really count.

Don’t get me wrong here though, I’m not saying it’s wrong to be down! We’re all allowed to have off days, feel depressed, or to have a total meltdown. I have had a lot of that going on this past week as I have been trying to write this post; funny how that kind of thing works… the lows hit as I am writing on hope. But you know, that’s okay. Because I still have hope that tomorrow can be better, and that I am going to be able to keep going. It’s okay to fall and to break, but don’t let that stop you. You are neither helpless nor hopeless, and there is always a way for things to improve.  I know it hurts, but please stay, and hold on. Because pain ends.

Julie xo

“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches on the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
– Emily Dickenson

 

*note: This isn’t the case with everyone; I know that sometimes no matter how many times you go through something, it seems hopeless and endless. But stick around, because this is a message of hope for you. x