What is Hope?

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This may be an obvious questions, but let’s look deeper.

Definition

Hope is looking forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.

Spiritually speaking, it might be described as trusting in God’s promises.

An Illusion?

My nine year old daughter just informed me that hope is an illusion. Seriously?! She says she learned it from Avatar the Last Airbender. Lovely. Anyways, I suppose hope can feel like somewhat of an illusion. Maybe the things we have hoped for don’t seem to be very likely.

Proof is Optional

One thing that I am passionate about is that nobody needs proof to hope for something.!

No matter how unlikely someone’s hope may seem, there is no reason why one should not hold onto that hope. As long as that hope brings peace to your life and doesn’t hurt anyone, go ahead and keep hoping!

Hope is Healthy

Hope can help us be healthier! Many studies have shown that people who are hopeful that a treatment will work, are able to recover more quickly and have lower mortality rates. Hope is a “Mighty Principle” for sure!

Sources:

“Hope” Dictionary.com © 2022 Dictionary.com, LLC. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hope (March 22, 2022).

“Hope” Churchofjesuschrist.org. © 2013 Officials, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/hope?lang=eng (March 22, 2022).

Katelyn N.G. Long, Et al. “The role of Hope in subsequent health and well-being for older adults: An outcome-wide longitudinal approach”. Global Epidemiology, Volume 2, Sciencedirect.com. November 2020, 100018.