Is hope enough?
Written by: Katrin Mersch
How are you today? Be honest.
Are you feeling okay on some days but on other days you feel sad, annoyed or helpless? You’re not alone. The rest of the world and I feel the same way. Right now we are all dependent on external circumstances and we are not used to that. We feel powerless and at the mercy. A lot is being taken from us that is important to us. We are afraid that we will no longer be able to live our lives carefree.
What is left? Hope. But is it enough?
WIKIPEDIA says: “Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.”
Hope is a helpful virtue and it is geared towards the future. It has a positive and a less positive aspect. The less positive aspect of hope is that you shift your happiness to the future, instead of experiencing joy and love now and at this moment. You hope for a better life in the future. But on the other hand hope also has positive aspects. Hope also means the great hope that things will go well in the future.
To dream about the future isn’t bad at all. And the present moment isn’t always a place of peace and rest. Especially when you are afraid in the present moment. Try mindfulness/meditation to cope with your feelings:
1. Mindfulness helps you learn to stay with difficult feelings without analyzing, suppressing, or encouraging them. When you allow yourself to feel and acknowledge your worries, irritations, painful memories, and other difficult thoughts and emotions, this often helps them dissipate.
2. Mindfulness allows you to safely explore the underlying causes of your stress and worry. By going with what’s happening rather than expending energy fighting or turning away from it, you create the opportunity to gain insight into what’s driving your concerns.
3. Mindfulness helps you create space around your worries so they don’t consume you. When you begin to understand the underlying causes of your apprehension, freedom and a sense of spaciousness naturally emerge.
And then there is space for hope again: Everything that is done in the world is done by hope. (Martin Luther)
Take good care of yourself and stay safe and healthy,
Katrin