What is Hope?

Written by: Jen Shifler

As hope is at the very foundation of Amanda’s wish, it just seems accurate to start the year with a reminder of what hope is. While digging into what hope truly is, it came as a surprise to learn that hope is not a feeling. Researcher and author Brenee Brown spent a decade looking deeper into the meaning of hope, and in her research, she explains that hope is not a feeling, but a way of thinking. She went on to explain that there’s a string of struggles, people, and achievements attached to hope, and she shares a quote that so simply defines what hope is: “Hope brings people together through a place of struggle to achievement.” The sum of this quote so beautifully encapsulates the idea that life’s contrast or turbulence is nearly a prerequisite to hope.

It’s much like the darkness of the night required to appreciate the beauty of the stars in the distance. It’s like the trees losing the color green or sign of life, only to reveal their contrasting hues of yellow and orange against a blue sky. It’s finding solitude and peace within yourself during quiet moments, just after the chaos and noise that follows a busy, busy workday. Life’s greatest contrasts can allow us a chance to define our goals and test the limits of what is possible. As we go into the day and year ahead, we must embrace the contrast along the path. As we embrace the struggle, hope will emerge as a new guidepost, but we must be brave enough to explore our darkness because it is there that we will discover the infinite power of our light. And through this life-trek, we are not obligated to go at it alone, after all, it is through struggle that we are strung together.