Word Of The Month: Hope.

What drives a human being to do what they have always dreamed of, even if it seems so far fetched and out of reach? There may not be one specific thing that drives us. We as people are complicated; it may be the thought of money that drives some, for others, it is possible that a personal reason fuels them; such as the desire to be the best version of themselves, and feeling good from helping others who are struggling; these are matters closer to the heart. We all desire to work towards a better future for ourselves, our families, and the future generation. The aspiration underlying all human achievements is the idea of hope.

Hope is an optimistic state of mind, a feeling of trust based on the expectation of a positive outcome regarding a specific event or the circumstance within life or the world. As a verb, its definition includes: wanting or desiring something to happen with anticipation or an expectation with confidence.

In the counselling room, those professionals who can successfully be integrating hope into counselling can understand that the client-counsellor relationship has incredible potential to inspire and strengthen hope (Jevne, 1993; Larsen, Edey, & LeMay, 2007). In fact, at times, it is the counselling relationship which is considered to have the most influence on a clients levels of hope (e.g., de Guzman et al., 2006), which has inspired the development of hope-focused counselling (Edey & Jevne, 2003).

Hope is all-encompassing and a structure of being human. Many of the remarkable technologies that seem unfathomable today are a product of hope and hopeful thinking. For example, people worldwide have and continue to look at renewable, carbon-neutral ways of producing heat and electricity so that the earth continues to survive long after current generations have left their mark. Many people change their whole diet and way of thinking about food to be kinder to both the planet and animals. These acts are driven by the hope that we may continue to live on as less invasive and more thoughtful individuals.

Life is not always kind; when unfortunate situations occur, that force our way of thinking down a darker path. It can take effort to gain the energy to allow ourselves the hope that better and brighter days are ahead for us. Hope is the energy that drives us on our journeys, no matter how big or small. When our journey calls to action our belief in ourselves, we hope that we are working towards something bigger than us as a collective and that we are powerful and able to be all we need.

“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”

Tom Bodett

It is never too late to work on ourselves and be empathic to those less fortunate; it requires dedication and is a learning process that ultimately makes us great. If we allow ourselves to be told that something is impossible, out of our reach or not worth it, we will never unlock our true potential. We live in a world of possibilities where we can travel to any stretch of the earth in unfathomable time and at an unfathomable speed. Knowing that things thought of as impossible a few hundred years ago are now just a normal part of everyday life can give us hope.

• What are you hoping for?

• Do you believe your dreams are out of your reach?

We are so fortunate as a race to be capable of critical thought and analysis. We can reverse engineer the most misunderstood phenomenon and replicate it on an unprecedented scale, and we can power an entire planet and provide tools that allow loved ones to communicate instantly. While it is something that I take for granted, on reflection, it’s an amazing thing to be living in such an advanced and progressive world that can have hope, even through the hardest times. Hope brings communities together in times of disaster, cultivating unlikely friendships and allows for the strength to run headfirst at whatever comes our way.

You are allowed and owe it to yourself to have hope; it is the foundation of what makes you, you. Whether you are hoping for a new opportunity or to break through a seemingly inescapable situation, give yourself some time to believe that it is possible and give yourself that motivation to achieve your dreams. You are capable of it, and it starts with an idea so simple as hope in yourself.

- By Patrick

If you need to talk to a counsellor contact Relational Counselling 

References

Hope Quotes [online] Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/hope [Accessed on: 18th June 2021]

Understanding the role of hope in counselling: Exploring the intentional uses of hope. December 2007Counselling Psychology Quarterly 20(4):401-416. DOI:10.1080/09515070701690036. Larsen. D., Edey. W., Lemay. L (University of Alberta) [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232990402_Understanding_the_role_of_hope_in_counselling_Exploring_the_intentional_uses_of_hope [Accessed on 18: June 2021]