Written by: Silvana Avram, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
There is hope. There will always be hope. There cannot be life without hope.
Hope is perhaps the most precious gift we are given as humans.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” — Desmond Tutu.
Hope is being able to leave the door open for a better future.
But where does this ability come from? And can we help those who seem to have lost hope? Can hope be restored, and re-learned?
I was thinking of this recently, after a very emotional coaching conversation with a client who was convinced that being hopeful was nothing more than lying to oneself. “Hope? We’re never going to change! We thought we had made progress, and yet look at the state of our world: we have destroyed our planet, we are as divided as ever, millions of people are still living in poverty, discrimination, corruption, and injustice are rife, and to top it all there is now an abhorrent, fratricide war in the heart of Europe. It is simply naïve to believe that things will ever get better. Thousands of years of civilisation and our most basic instincts are still in control of our brain. We live in fear, with hatred as our most reliable shield. Seriously, it’s time to accept that there is no hope!”
Is it fair to say that we haven’t made much progress? Is it a matter of seeing the glass half empty or half full? I couldn’t dispute the fact that fear and hatred are still dominant in our world and that our societies are bitterly divided. It is also true that right now, it feels like we are going backward. The unthinkable has happened: after 77 years of peace, war has returned in Europe, with its barbaric scenes of despicable crimes and heart wrenching destruction, plus, amongst its consequences, a serious threat of global famine. According to statistics, nearly 53 people are killed each day by a firearm in the US. The recent headlines about plans to overturn abortion laws in America came as a shock to millions. And let us not forget that all of this is happening after 2 years of a global pandemic, which, many specialists agree, was partly due to the reckless destruction of our natural habitat.
But does this all mean that we should lose all hope?
I, for one, haven’t.
I am used to being called naïve. And there may well be some truth in that, I do have a habit of wearing rose coloured glasses. I just think it is smart!
I am not ready, and I am not willing to give up hope!
Because, from my perspective, without hope, there is nothing left. Only darkness and emptiness. Fear and despair. And I can’t settle for that. I don’t want to.
So, I set myself the challenge to find 3 reasons to choose hope. 3 reasons that I can share with those who have given up hope or are about to give up hope. 3 reasons to choose hope that go beyond the immediate, rather gloomy, one must say, reality.
3 Reasons to Always Choose Hope
1. Hope is intimately related to life. And life always wins!
We can’t really give up hope. As long as there is life, there is hope.
We live in a mysterious universe, and life is always surprising.
Even in our darkest hour, most of us have the ability to see a silver lining, a way forward. Perhaps that’s just the way life works. Everything in the universe partakes of this ability to evolve. There is an invisible force helping us to move through life, an impulse pushing us to wake up in the morning. We share this mysterious, unfailing regenerative power with the tiniest of creatures and the mightiest of galaxies. This is to say that hope is natural, that it is part of life, and part of our original setting as human beings. Hope and life seem eternally intertwined.
And so, when you feel hopeless, remind yourself that life always finds a way. That even when it feels like there is no hope, there is always hope. We must simply learn to accept that we do not have all the answers. Life does. There is no end. There are only beginnings.
Make a promise to remain open and leave the last word to life.
2. Hope is a better choice than despair: let us take responsibility
If you had to choose between living the rest of your life in hope or living it in despair, which would you choose? Which of these options do you think will be more helpful for yourself and for everyone around you?
Yes, life may seem cruel, tough, and incredibly unjust. Yes, our world is in a terrible state. But we are part of this world. Choosing despair only adds to our misery and becomes part of the problem. Hope might not change things instantly, but it's certainly part of the solution: it gives us the impulse we need to try to find a way forward.
From a coaching and a human point of view, more generally, it is very important to accept responsibility.
When we complain about the world, we imply that the state of the world is someone else’s fault, someone else’s responsibility. But the truth is that we are the world. You and I, and everyone else: we are.. humanity! The world reflects who we are. Instead of blaming others, we must take responsibility.
The simple decision to put an end to the blame game is liberating. Taking responsibility for your life and for the world you want to see will profoundly transform you.
I know for a fact, not only as a teacher and a coach, but from my own personal journey, that it is possible to transform our perspective and to transform our life. We can decide who we want to be. As for the world, it will not change instantly, we can agree. But if you and I commit to being kinder, more forgiving, and more solidary, and if we inspire and support each other, I am sure that the world around us will transform accordingly. Slowly, painfully but steadily.
We simply can’t afford to lose hope. Firstly, because hope is natural. We need hope to be able to continue to evolve. Secondly, losing hope would mean settling for cynicism and misery. Despair, the opposite of hope, only breeds negativity.
Instead, let us take responsibility. Let us always choose hope, consciously. And let us decide to change the way we see ourselves, others, and humanity. If you and I can change, we will be able to continue to transform our world. It is true that there is still a lot of violence, hatred, and division in our society. But there has been huge positive progress too. I am sure you agree. We need hope to continue our journey!
3. We must have trust in humanity!
Giving up hope would mean giving up on ourselves. Look at us! Look at the human potential! Look at everything we have achieved so far, from building impressive temples to harnessing electricity, to learning to fly. Do we have the right to give up hope in humanity? Our mind has no limits! We can dream, we can create wonderful things, we can find new ways of being, we can imagine parallel universes and discover new galaxies. Of course, there is hope!
The beauty of humanity lies in the fact that we know perfectly well we can do better. Many of us are striving to do better. Every day I meet people determined to aim higher.
They could not do that without hope. We could not do anything without hope, without the determination to go beyond limitations, to test our human abilities and discover new horizons. Hope is the catalyst for unveiling our human potential.
Everything else in the universe is programmed to evolve.
We, humans, have an exquisite privilege: we can choose to evolve consciously. Hope is at the core of that ability.
I trust humanity because I choose hope.
I choose hope. Because I trust humanity.
When you feel that there is no hope, remember all those who felt like you before, but decided to keep on going. They chose hope. Try your best. Keep the door open. You have nothing to lose. You lose everything if you lose hope. Don't give up!
Always give a chance to hope.
Have I convinced you?
You cannot give up hope!
Because life is hope.
Because hope is better than despair.
Because we owe it to ourselves and to humanity to have hope.
If you haven’t guessed it, my favourite reason for remaining hopeful is this: I have trust in humanity, in our glorious common destiny!
As a teacher, as a coach, and as a human being, I know that we all want to do our best. And I know that we can do much better.
We are capable of greatness.
There is hope.
Let us take responsibility.
Kindness, compassion, and unity will change our world.
Hope gives us the courage, vision, and energy to write a better story for humanity.
Silvana Avram, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Silvana Avram is a successful, Inspirational Life Coach, philosopher, author, teacher, and founder of Life Coaching with Silvana – whose mission is to empower us to embrace our uniqueness, fall in love with life, and fulfill our potential and create a beautiful legacy.
Fascinated from a young age by the mystery of life and our place in the universe, Silvana has been on a quest to find her own answers to the big existential questions facing humanity. Now an acclaimed Coach and Author, she draws on her extensive study of Philosophy, Psychology, Meditation, Holistic Healing, and Spirituality to create a uniquely inspirational and empowering style of Coaching – also reflected in her Book “Being You and Loving You” in which she guides us through an unforgettable, transformative journey of self-discovery and self-love.
Convinced that we can overcome the prevalent paradigms of fear and division, Silvana has recently focussed her attention on developing a radically innovative approach, outlined in her upcoming book, “Living in Eternity” – and which has earned her an unexpected nickname: “Miss Eternity”! She argues passionately that, rather than chasing goal after goal and living for tomorrow, we should, instead, live every day, every moment, with the joy, awe, and serenity we experience when we see our lives from the perspective of Eternity. When we choose to live in Eternity, everything falls into place, everything we do takes on a different meaning, and we become aware that, as humanity, we are, in fact, constantly creating our common legacy.
Silvana’s ambition: is to inspire us to write a better story for ourselves – and for humanity – in Eternity!
