Joy beats happiness and with hope drives and energizes dreams. Only authentic joy combined with wholesome hope help dreams come true, flow, and grow.
Joy beats happiness every time. Authentic joy is what drives dreams and acts as a source of energy. Any good dream requires a great amount of energy. Hope, another source of dream energy compliments joy. Misunderstandings of hope make it seem one dimensional, while joy mistakenly becomes synonymous with happiness. Misled hope creates futile fantasies. Dreams based strictly on happiness die before the due time or fail to satisfy when achieved. Casual happiness does not energize and support dreams. Only joy combined with wholesome hope, does.
The Collins English Dictionary defines joy as a feeling of great happiness. The problem of mixing joy and happiness begins in the definition. Joy includes happiness, but another level exists that runs much deeper. Random immediate gratification brings happiness and has its place. Long range worthwhile and wholesome outcomes however, require the stability of joy. Hopes and dreams come true with this stability.
Joy And Hope
Understanding the fulfilled dream process starts with clarifying the feelings of joy and hope. Low and high hopes exist. Lows are on the negative side and highs on the positive. In previous articles eight lows and 16 highs show the multi-leveled parts of hope. Joy blends with happiness on occasion, but is distinct as having a long-term and enduring presence. Happiness, conversely, is temporary.
The best way to describe joy is by observing people who have it. Conducting a conference for missionaries with the Pioneers Africa organization in Ghana, West Africa was the impetus for this article. About 40 (2 women) missionaries attended this conference to learn and acquire skills and knowledge to better serve their assigned territories throughout the country.
Arriving mid afternoon after a red-eye flight, meeting the group on the first day of the conference began the week. At first impression, the serious, nicely dressed attendees attentively listened to introductions and warmly greeted the speakers.
Delivering presentations with language and cultural barriers posed a challenge. Slower pacing and limiting vocabulary were keys to the participants understanding the material presented. As the time passed and presenters and participants relaxed the concepts became clearer.
The seriousness ended up being a strong desire to learn. Use of the word “never” is seldom used by this author, but that was the case regarding any sense of waning interest. At times thinking there was a translation problem due to a seeming “stare in the headlights” look, that was not the case. They got it most of the time and when it was unclear, answers to questions made it clear.
Joy of Learning
The joy of learning drove these men and women. Remote parts of Ghana have no internet to learn theological and leadership skills. A hunger to get every bit of knowledge for this intense week was the motivation. The dream of learning to serve better was here.
Add the fact most participants survive on a very low budget with many hardships. Living on meager means and basic housing, a very simple lifestyle is the norm. A week here at the Pioneers Africa facility provided room and board, but was far from a relaxing break. Fifteen to 20 participants slept in barrack style rooms with no means of leaving other than walking around the facility. That meant being stuck with the group 24/7.
Surely this is a dampener to joy! Nope! These 38 guys and two ladies exhibited nothing but love for one another and an appreciation for each other’s contributions. So at this point, travel from all over the country by bus on rugged roads, some riding 11 hours all night to get here did not squelch the joy. Sitting all day in a class room after sleeping in a snoring and other bodily function noise-filled environment still failed to quench the joy. But this is still not the most prolific example of joy.
Modeling Joy
A big part of being a missionary is a closeness to God. Regardless of any outsider’s world view, no doubts arise observing the energy of the missionaries. Enthusiastic prayers, song, and sometimes dancing generated an undeniable model of joy.
Joy drove the participants here. Present is the hope that connects with others that understand the trials of being out in the field alone. Hoping practical skills develop as a result of gaining much needed knowledge was apparent. Also, refreshing fellowship in a room filled with like minded people gets a check on the done list.
Locus of Control
Another contrast between joy and happiness is in the concept of Locus of Control (LOC). A person with an external LOC believes circumstances dictate the future. An internal LOC person takes full responsibility to address problems.
Happiness favors an external LOC, whereas joy an internal LOC. Take for example the counseling acronym H-A-L-T (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired). When a person is in one or more of these states, good choices are hard to come by. The time to make important decisions is later. Wise counsel regardless of a person’s LOC.
Life, however, does not always allow the luxury of waiting. A person with an external LOC feels out of control when hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. Only when relief comes from outside sources are they happy. In the mean time the misery abounds and it’s not their fault.
People with an internal LOC see a bigger picture. The control is a joy that comes from previous practices of discipline. Taking appropriate action, the hunger, anger, loneliness, and tiredness get the attention needed that eventually brings relief. Perfection is not the objective, but taking responsibility for behavior is.
Summary
Society mistakenly groups joy and happiness together. Hardships and challenges quickly crush happiness. Joy is stable and not dictated by emotions or circumstances.
The missionaries’ lack of material comforts and living with each other 24/7 without the option to get away is tough. Transportation inconveniences also require a deep joy to keep a positive outlook. Mere happiness diminishes in a hurry in these circumstances. The energy in the meetings is also a choice.
Yea, them religious folk get all emotional, but for five days straight morning, noon, and night? Some believe anything. Others refuse to believe and that is understandable, but denying some things are beyond sound logic fails to face reality as well.
Explanations for everything turns the world into a boring clump of cerebral thinking. On the other hand, the unknown mysteries keep life exciting with joy and hope required to keep moving forward.
Disney World very well may be the happiest place on earth for the masses for a few days. However, a personal and deep joy that these missionaries have provides energy for hopes and dreams that last a lifetime!
Hope mastery begins with hopelessness maturity. Hopelessness has a lot to do with perception. Hope mastery is the key to unlocking it.
The words hope and mastery provide any number of hits on an internet search. Put the two together and hope mastery baffles the search engines. Many people are in need of hope so understanding the process of mastering it is beneficial. A counterintuitive, but effective way to do that is to begin with a term that is very familiar – hopelessness.
Hopelessness has a lot to do with perception. When the perception of hopelessness locks in, finding a way back to any hope is essential. Hope mastery is the key to unlocking it, but how does one get to the point where it seems life is not worth living? Nothing is better than personal experience so here is my story.
In no way is this snapshot of hopelessness a comparison to the enormous suffering some people go through in life. Those who experience long-term day-in-day-out suffering are the real experts on hope mastery. Weeks, months, and years of physical, emotional, and spiritual battles for those who not only survive the various challenges, but thrive are heroes.
Glimpse Of Hopelessness
What did bring a glimpse of hopelessness was a series of events. A particular Tuesday is the day things revolve around. Prior to this a number of painful dental issues occurred that were emotionally taxing not being able to enjoy any food. Despite having difficulty sleeping the previous three nights due to a cold and sore throat, I was feeling well enough to go out that night for a meeting. Prior to leaving, laid down to take a quick power nap.
Just before lying down felt a little dizzy and thought nothing about it. Upon awakening, the whole world changed with the room spinning quickly. Barely able to get to my knees, I crawled to the window and opened it to get some fresh air thinking maybe the air was toxic. Kneeling at the window, still spinning, began sweating profusely.
Surely This Will Pass
Still thinking this was just a passing thing, laid back down to regroup. Time passed so that the meeting was no longer an option and driving was totally out of the question. This all took place at about 4:30 PM. Within the next hour crawled to the toilet and threw up, leading to the false conclusion that this was food poisoning. No other symptoms of food poisoning arose so that was eventually ruled out.
For three hours just laid on the floor with head spinning like a top. Eventually crawled onto the bed about 7:30 PM with clothes on feeling too woozy to undress. Ended up restlessly sleeping about 12 hours. All this time the thought was “surely this will pass within a day or two,” but it didn’t. The turning point in the perception of my mind went to the worst case scenarios for legitimate reasons. Poor sleep, no desire to eat or drink, dizziness even when sitting, immobile other than holding onto things, and miserable to be around.
From IronMan To Hopeless Man
At this point a hopelessness perspective prevailed. A few months prior to this I completed my second full IronMan Triathlon. Now, going from peak conditioning to the pit of despair showed how precious the simple things in life are and how quickly it vanished! Only a few things really matter in life and health is a big one. All the money in the world falls short when confronted with a slew of health problems.
How ALS, terminal cancer, and any other number of long-term intense suffering illness patients endure is an enigma. What drives the will to live in those instances? Loved ones, leaving a legacy, and fear of death are a few things that fall into the mix, but it is hard to quantify. All the mystery aside, how does hope mastery overcome hopelessness?
Hope Mastery
Hope mastery (see Dr. Dan’s blog posts on the different kinds of Hope) begins with hopelessness maturity. Hopelessness maturity knows the feelings of despair are common for any number of stages and circumstances in life. It also knows that personal control to overcome the hopelessness is a skill. Allowing for exceptions of serious emotional issues requiring professional help, people’s perceived capability or self-efficacy improves with practice resulting in mastery.
Rarely do people feel overwhelming hopelessness, but when it happens, don’t ignore or take it lightly. The maturity comes in knowing “these things shall pass.” What “passes” depends on the challenge faced by the individual. People that develop a mindset to make the most of terminal cancer or ALS know time is short. The maturity comes in having a peace about that and choosing a proper response. Having a belief in God, Jesus, or a transcendent life certainly helps, but is not a requirement. The person’s self-efficacy in dealing with the circumstances determines the result.
Where You Think Determines What You Think
So what does it look like to respond to hopelessness in a mature way? The feelings exist with intensity, but also do not have to dictate thinking. Shifting from the emotional to the logical part of the brain is a concept researched by Daniel Khanemen. Where you think in the brain determines what you think.
The amygdala is the gateway to the brain and filters everything through the emotions. Realizing all information now has an emotion attached to it, the objective is to discern whether or not that emotion needs redirected. In other words, have a predetermined response when bad or harmful thoughts arise.
The one good thing about hopelessness is that it is easy to identify. Any number of unrecognized things lead up to hopelessness, but the final result is clear. Once the emotion runs its course, the goal is to shift thinking from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex where it can logically be dealt with.
Giving oneself time is important. The explanation here is simple, but the process is hard when an intense situation confronts people. The more seasoned a person is, the quicker the emotion runs its course and a logical response arises.
A Wise Response
Questioning the feeling is a wise response. Is this really hopeless or am I just tired? What can I learn? What good can come out of this? The emotional shift does not come immediately. The better the question, the sooner the logical part of the brain kicks in.
The questions must be answerable. Asking “why” questions in a situation that has no easy answer feeds hopelessness rather than deterring it. A person with a healthy lifestyle asking why cancer came is not good. Asking “what are the best solutions to aggressively pursue now that it’s here” is. Good questions bring choices, bad questions lead to more hopelessness.
So back to the story. Did not recognize all the things – painful teeth, sickness, lack of appetite, sleeplessness – as building up. The accumulation of internally unrecognized emotion came to a head as the vertigo was the last straw. The overdrawn emotional bank had nothing left to deal with the vertigo and here comes hopelessness!
It took a couple days of only being able to survive – barely able to walk, nauseas, sleep deprived – before even thinking to regroup and ask an answerable question. Even after asking a good question, the brain takes a while to work on it as the battle still continues with a strong emotional helplessness trying to dominate. The question was, “What good can come out of this?”
Knowing About Hope Mastery Includes Hopelessness
Eventually realized an everyday prayer that began a few weeks prior was to learn everything there is to know about hopes and dreams. Being the Hope Dr. that seems to be the logical thing. Well, never thought a key component to knowing all about hope is understanding what it is like to be hopeless.
Whether you believe that answer comes from God or wherever, the desires of the heart have preconceived notions about how the fulfillment of that should occur. When the answer doesn’t come in that nice package, a whole array of unexpected emotions spew out. One of them in this case was hopelessness.
Pain Is A Hope Mastery Credential
The beauty is the pain turns into a credential. As previously noted, in no way is this close to the travails some people go through. Thankful that the hopelessness lasted only a couple of days – long enough to get a glimpse of what some people deal with for long periods of time. The result is a heart that gives others the benefit of the doubt instead of being quick to judge.
At the time of completing this article, the vertigo still has not left. Why can’t I exercise like I’m used to? Being so health-minded, why isn’t this over sooner? Ooops! There are those “why” questions creeping in! Obviously, there is more to learn.
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Dream perspectives: sleep, visionary, daydreaming. A positive perception, coherent thinking, & key events shape visionary dreams through a journey of journaling.
Dream perspectives amount to three. The first is to take sleep dreams and try to shed light on anything from a simple memory to weird and embarrassing thoughts. The second is to make visionary dreams come true. A positive perception, coherent thinking, and noting key events in life shape this dream through a journey of journaling. A third is daydreaming.
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The three perspectives are worthy of further study. The first, sleeping dreams, lean heavily toward the subjective side. The second, dream making, is more simple to direct and be purposeful about. Day dreaming bridges the two and needs direction to not merely be sleeping with the eyes open.
The X3 (times three) is relevant also to the research covered that supports the journey of journaling toward a visionary dream. Why is the simplification of multiple concepts clarified with three items? Who knows, but lots of things – time, water, the Trinity, dimensions of this world, traffic lights, horse races, little pigs, musketeers, Star Wars, and the Stooges – come in threes. Why not follow a good precedent?
All of the concepts are part of a developmental process to create a Dream Guide. Three positive statements (explained below) are the foundation for creating a system to give hope and point the way so that hopes and dreams flow and grow. Let the Dream Guide journey begin!
The Dream Guide Journey
The journey begins by noting the difference between a fantasy and a dream. The first is impossible. The second isn’t, but at times seems like it is. Most noteworthy is that both fantasizing and visionary dreaming yield no difference in results when there is a failure to take action. With a willingness to actively engage and refusal to stop trying, visionary dreams come true. Just ask the Wright Brothers, the NASA moon mission team, George Washington Carver, George Westinghouse, Colonel Sanders, and the list goes on.
Therefore, dreams in the literal sense are strange, complex, and happen during sleep. On the other hand, dreams that occur while awake are hopes, big goals, and vision. The cross-over and third area of this topic is the daydream and the battle ground between fantasy and reality.
Daydreamers
Daydreamers stare off into space or look right through a person as if they aren’t there. Certainly the mind wanders, but when filled with intention has focus. The mind left to itself goes off into the Land of Oz and into the aforementioned fantasy mode. The day dream that consumes thoughts with ways to take action and accomplish a big goal is quite different.
So begins this journey into threes in an attempt to build a Dream Guide. Something to follow to bring substance to those big goals, hopes, and intentions. The easy part is reviewing the abundance of sound research and methods that simplify how the mind works. The challenge arises with changing thinking. Any dream, big goal, or hope can fail, but the higher those risks, the more satisfying the victory is if it comes.
Methodologies X 3
The best methodology does not have to be totally valid and reliable or proven through extensive case studies. The base requirement for success is picking a sound method that involves action. Bigger isn’t necessarily better. King Solomon stated, With all who live, there is hope — even a live dog is better off than a dead lion (Ecclesiastes 9:4)! The dog can be a yapping chihuahua. Still better. Beginning with small steps is fine.
Three Positive Statements
One of the simplest tools that requires minimal action with great benefit is Martin E. P. Seligman’s journaling of three positive things at the end of the day. Consider this a Cliff Note’s version on the journey of journaling.
Journaling is a recommended practice supported by research. Then what is the issue? Journaling takes a lot of effort! Make it a daily practice? Sounds good, but it might as well be a dead Lion.
Three short positive perspective journal entries at the end of each day is all Dr. Seligman suggests. Somewhere between a one word descriptor to a short sentence. The time required is literally about one minute each evening. If a person fails to allot one minute per day to fulfill a dream, that is just a fantasy on the way to the Land of Oz.
Trying something new like journaling requires getting out of some old patterns and choosing to look at the bright side. Sometimes the positive thing is so good, it requires more explanation calling for a longer journal entry that is actually a refreshing emotional release. The difference in this longer entry is the excitement of recording something relevant and not having to come up with new things to write about.
Cross-Level Coherence
Ramping up a bit to use the three positive statements’ information, an integration of what Jonathan Haidt (2018) calls Cross-Level Coherence brings more meaning. Analyzing the three positive statements at multiple levels reveals more details and is the foundation of the Dream Guide System. Based on Jonathan’s parameters a simple way to define the levels or life categories as referred to in this article are as follows:
Personal – relationship with others, individual goals, health, fitness, personality and learning styles, etc.
Business – some type of need to signify accomplishment, education, learning, employment, a fulfilling vocation. Stay-at-home moms or dads work on the “business of the family” – grocery shopping, getting kids out of bed, scheduling appointments, doing laundry, etc.
Pers./Bus. – a blending of personal and business life. Combining some transcendent cause into any of these levels is the ultimate coherence.
The first two of the three above life categories stand alone. The third Pers./Bus. category blends the two making coherence possible. Looking at life and assigning a percentage of time spent in each life category with a final total of 100% gives a guideline to maintain coherence. A person lacking coherence is a result of the wrong percentages in the three life categories.
For example, an individual only assigning 5% to the Personal category, 10% to the Pers./Bus., and 85% to a business is an accident waiting to happen. Almost a guarantee this leads to an unhappy spouse and neglected children with mistaken thoughts that all this time spent earning the big bucks is for them. The sad ending many times is a divorce, emotionally scarred kids, and burnout.
Be sure to adjust the Dream Mix percentages. Wise fine-tuning of each of the three levels is essential to well-being. When priorities are set with loved ones, coherence is intentional and minimizes long-term regrets.
Tracking Events
The third and final of the multiples of three categories for this article refer to notable events in life. With three positive perspectives, each one connects with a notable event or guiding pathway.
Revelations / Insights
Key Events / Accomplishments
Key Thoughts / Mindset Shifts
Revelations / Insights
A very specific answered prayer, an epiphany, a surprising and previously unknown fact made know in a dramatic way. An insight is an “aha” moment, an understanding how to solve a difficult problem. These are special occasions and don’t happen everyday.
Key Events / Accomplishments
A grand occasion such as a baby born, marriage, graduation, or as simple as cutting the grass and hanging out with friends. Can be anywhere from once in a life time to an everyday occurrence.
Key Thoughts / Mindset Shift
Everyday observations and good thinking. Developing a new and better habit. A reasoning process that comes to an interesting, but simple conclusion. Also some of that aforementioned good fantasizing that inspires further pursuit of a dream.
Categorizing the three positive perspectives into these tracking events makes for easy referencing back to when significant things in life happened. When the event is significant enough, remembering when and what happened gets more inaccurate as the years go by. That’s how the “the one that got away” fish story gets bigger and more grand as time passes. How cool it is to recollect exact details and get it right every time rather than guess.
Dream Guide System
The multiple series of “threes” summarize best as being part of a Dream Guide System as follows:
The beginning was about identifying the difference between three types of dreams: sleep, visionary, and day dreams.
The next topic discussed was three short journal entries about positive things that happened each day. The daily follow through of this has inherent benefits, but is also a great way to fulfill a visionary dream.
The next items, life categories and notable events, included ways to further filter the three positive perspectives that bring insight into the life of the person on a journey of pursuing a visionary dream.
Needless to say, the Dream Guide System requires much more coverage and that happens in future articles. Let this serve as an overview and hope that something as simple as recording three positive daily occurrences has the potential for major impact.
Time
Most goal, dream, purpose, and vision initiating requires a lot of concentrated time to sit down and go through an intense thought process. All of that is good and great results come from these efforts so this is not about denigrating those methods.
The problem arises in getting that upfront time and the vast majority of people fail to do that. The desire is there, but cutting out the time and resources to get it done make it hard to even get started. Therefore, taking a minute on the journey of journaling by only having to write three positive statements down at the end of the day is not only doable, but enjoyable.
Amazingly, people who tried it each night for just one week were happier and less depressed one month, three months and six months later (Seligman et al., 2005). Hence, three more perspectives that make it worth while to take the journey.
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410-421.
Haidt, J., (2018). The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom
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High hope is anticipation of a future which is good and based upon: relationship with others, a sense of personal competence, coping ability, psychological well-being, purpose and meaning in life, as well as a sense of the possible (Miller, 1986; Miller, 2000). Among a number of definitions for the topic, choosing this one covers multiple aspects of life relevant to hopefulness.
The third and final article of the Doctor Rx series includes more research than Part 1 or Part 2. The opening statement helps bring clarity to the unclear concept, feeling, thought, or whatever adequately might describe hope. Kind of like wind – it is felt and the effects seen as in blowing trees, but really hard to grasp. The multiple effects of hope are the focus.
3 Categories of Hope
The three categories of hope in the three articles are low, high short-term, and high long-term. High long-term hopes covered in this article are key elements of that good future mentioned earlier and are as follows:
Long-term High Hopes
Wholesome
Despite feelings and surrounding circumstances, a focus on truth and a steadiness of heart. A good and trusted relationship has wholesome expectations.
Continuous
Fighting the daily battles with a coping ability that does not lose ground. People with chronic illnesses or pain continue to look for solutions and choose to overcome whatever gets in the way of having a positive outlook.
Hope beyond hope
The people that, despite what the masses do or believe, have a sense of the possible. This originates with a higher purpose that others are not aware of. Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search For Meaning documents how the Holocaust prisoners that lived through the terrible conditions found something to look forward to.
Hope of righteousness
A beacon to keep things moving in the right direction. One hundred percent guarantees of pure intent don’t exist, but the desire to maintain a high level of integrity and justice gives a sense of psychological well-being.
Better
Competence involving more informed and knowledgeable thinking. Learning needs to continue to the last breath because an expectation of improvement energizes and gives life.
Living
Ongoing, renewed, and never ending assurance. A proper perspective and purpose that gives life as opposed to a deluded, false desire for something to happen.
Future
Although an anticipated delay is a reality, the perception is one of optimism and meaning in life.
Hope of connected others
Joining in a common expectation is safe and meaningful when with a great group of people. Different than group hope because there is a deeper relationship with others.
The eight long-term high hopes are ideas to hold onto. Using other personally meaningful labels including the same thoughts are fine. The point is, cling to and appreciate the good things in life. Note problems are ever present, but with sufficient coping skills, the objective is to continue an upward spiral for a meaningful life.
Virtue
Hoping well leads to a gain of self-worth generating a virtue spiral upward.But this can become a vicious spiral downward if lacking intention. Luc Bovens – London School of Economics
Trials come and can disrupt the upward spiral to steal high hopes away. Recognizing low hopes creeping into life and eroding one’s sense of personal competence and self-worth are the warning signals. That recognition prevents getting blind-sided and turns even extreme difficulties into what Nicole Hassoun of Binghamton University summarizes as:
Hope, or at least a certain kind, gives us reason to strive to overcome seemingly insuperable moral problems; it can give rise to what I call The virtue of creative resolve — the fundamental commitment to finding creative solutions to what appear to be impossible problems.
Aligning with Hassoun’s moral association, Michael Milona (Cornell University) states, “Virtuous hoping is largely a matter of what we, in everyday parlance, call having one’s priorities straight.”
Bovens, Hassoun, and Milona all associate hope with virtue. The context of these cases align with the previously identified eight long-term high hopes. Another closely associated concept to help understand is optimism.
Optimism Pairing
Hope pairs with optimism well, but sometimes considered the same which confuses things. Unlike in optimism studies, there is not a widely accepted definition or measure for hope. The approach taken here is optimism is distinct and has considerable more research, but hope is usually a part of those studies. A better method is to understand the distinction, but realize trying to isolate one from the other is unwise.
In the book Super Better (2015), Jane McGonigal puts the hope/optimism relationship in what she calls a sequence of outcome ideas:
Hope is the belief that something can happen
Optimism is a believe that an outcome is likely to happen
Self-efficacy is a believe that not only is it likely to happen, but that you have the power to make it happen.
Grit Integration
Much of the concept of hope appears to be intentional, but lacks intensity. Angela Duckworth, in her best selling book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (2016) presents a different perspective. The book is about grit defined as a personality trait that is perseverance and passion for long-term goals.
There are four characteristics of grit paragons in Duckworth’s studies and they tend to occur in a particular order:
Interest – passion begins when you really enjoy what you do and find it meaningful. Enjoying tasks also includes optimism.
Practice. This is practicing until mastery is achieved. Getting better and better and eliminating the flaws.
Purpose.
Hope integrates throughout all of the stages.
All of these four stages can be learned and practically used. Interesting to note that hope, a seemingly passive concept, integrates and connects the very focused grit paragons.
Summary
Despite the best of intentions to simplify what hope is and it’s applications to living a life of purpose and meaning, this effort falls short. The three Rx articles only cover the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a thorough understanding.
The problem with such an elusive concept is to do valid and reliable analysis. Sound research presents its own demands even on easily quantifiable topics, but the broad applications of hope intensify the challenge. Probably the main reason for so little current and past research.
The positive outlook about what is known equips individuals with enough information to win the battle of the mind and stay optimistic. Some things to look forward to for the future:
Hopefulness for ongoing research efforts
Methods to deter hopelessness
New insights into the topic of hope.
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References
Miller J.F., (1986). “Development of an Instrument to Measure Hope.” Doctoral Dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Miller, J.F. (2000). Coping with Chronic Illness: Overcoming Powerlessness (3rd ed.) Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company.
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Hope Doctors fight confusion and despair. Low hopes transformed into positive expectations require the right attitude to win the battle of the mind.
Hope Doctor Rx: Two Highs For Every Low Part 1 covered eight low hopes. Seven of those eight are long-term. Determining whether the longevity of the low hopes is actual or perceived is helpful in making progress to transform negatives into positives. Determining what is actually true takes away the power of many negative hopes.
The Short-term low hope on the list is false hope. The one good thing about a false hope is that it usually tends to identify itself in a relatively short time. However, the remaining seven low hopes are usually long-term and may extend for years even until a person dies. Choosing to focus on positive expectations is a mindset that takes practice and persistence.
Research
The low and high hope lists in the articles originate from various sources. The Hope Doctor Rx articles give an overview of the topic without detailed research. The Hope & Optimism: Conceptual and Empirical Investigations website (http://hopeoptimism.com/pages/funding-initiatives/philosophy-hope-optimism) in turn offers a good base of scholarly studies for future investigation. The conclusion drawn is as follows:
Historical and contemporary philosophers disagree about whether hope is a propositional attitude, an emotion, a virtue, or some hybrid state. And even those who agree about what kind of thing hope is offer a range of different analyses of it.
Basically, a scholarly way to say, “I got nothin’ for certain!” Commendable and necessary to begin understanding the concept for heuristic value … oops, that means figuring out what the heck is goin’ on! Intriguing for this author to want to go deeper, but for now sticking to looking at the overall scope of things.
High Hopes – Positive Expectations
The title of the article series states “two highs for every low.” The lows amounted to eight, while there is a total of 16 for the highs. To break down the overwhelm of 16 items, two sub groups emerged – Short and Long term.
Although things don’t always work out, using both the short and long term high hopes is a great way to divide and conquer the drudgery of overcoming the lows. Whatever formula works, i.e., using all short-terms to just get started or interjecting two shorts with a long or supplanting the low with a long-term high. Simply, get rid of that low hope by doing whatever it takes!
Strategic Approach
When a low hope entrenches in one area of life, it is wise to revert to an area of strength to build upon. Low hopes have no mercy and as noted earlier can wreak havoc in peoples’ lives daily or all the way to the grave. Likewise have no mercy in using every tactic possible to combat the negative thinking ASAP.
Situation #1
An example of supplanting the negative with positive expectations. Throughout the years numerous failed diets result in a dried up hope. The repeated failures deplete any optimism eventually leading to the conclusion that being overweight is a lifetime curse.
A door of hope involves a brain hack in the form of getting the focus off the weight loss problem redirected to an area where positive things happen. The brain works 24/7 to answer good questions so now is the time. Begin with, “What can I do to be more fit?” Each individual is different, but with rare exceptions, everyone can take one more step in the direction of being more fit and have a confident hope about it.
Notice this may or may not have anything to do with food at this point. Walking 50 more steps today than yesterday is technically more fit and a win! The person may want to make this a group hope and get support from others to establish consistency. Getting more fit naturally leads to losing weight. Rinse, wash, and repeat until this becomes a habit.
The next step may be to identify what healthy food is already a part of daily meals that is tasty and eat more of it. Eating more of the healthy leads to ingesting less junk. Go crazy with hummus and rice cakes or healthy soups. Still some carbs, but waaaay better than greasy french fries.
Research Participant
Sorry, this was a test for a research participant! The previous example was not about food or losing weight, but more about attitude and triggers. During the list of suggestions, were thoughts coming up like, “I don’t like hummus or rice cakes!” “What does Dr. Dan know about weight loss?” “That would never work in my situation!”?
If so, the conceptual emphasis got lost. The battle is with the emotions of the mind and not logic. When a battle between feelings and logic takes place, emotion always wins.
The aforementioned suggestions were about aligning the emotions and the logic. People know that another 50 steps can be done and so do their emotions. Food liked and eaten raises no conflict either, thus a brain hack (see article on attitude brain hack).
The point is to conceptually start down the path of minimizing conflict between the emotions and logic and pick battles that have a high probability of success. The strategy applies to whatever challenge arises or needs worked on. Start with slow and easy to fight those low and sleazy expectations.
Situation #2
Another quick example is the morning starting poorly for various known and unknown reasons. Rather than fight toe-to-toe with the emotions, derail the thought process. The solution in this case is to go swimming even though it is not normally swim day.
The movement of going somewhere and interacting with people distracts the hopelessness feelings. Swimming involves rhythmic breathing and combined with underwater MP3 player tunes focuses the mind in a good way. The negative emotions derail and salvaging the day occurs sooner than later.
Lacking the time to go swimming? Take an ice cold shower. Don’t think about it, use The 5 Second Rule 5-4-3-2-1 and jump in! Guaranteed to derail the stinkin’ thinkin’!
Working on the levels and types of hope breaks things down to help the mind cope. The battle of the mind applies to all challenges big and small. Shifting a low hope to the high category requires an awareness of negative triggers, substituting of positive expectations, and tactical maneuvering.
The names given to all the hopes is a way to focus, but if another label resonates better, switch to that one. The strategy is, identify the bad guy(s) (low hope) and transition to the good guy(s). Find in-depth research regarding this in Jane McGonigal’s book SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully (2016).
Short-term High Hopes
Confident hope
Just like it sounds. Feelings of “10 foot tall and bullet proof” abound. Some might call this “being in the zone” with the intent of rising up to a challenge.
Proud hope
Having a sense of triumph, but not in an arrogant manner or being boastful. The difference between an athlete that kisses his biceps after a touchdown (all about him) and one that points to teammates to share the glory and look forward to the next score.
Good hope
A wonderful experience possibly taken for granted over time, but sordidly missed when gone. Riding a bicycle with a steady, but unnoticeable 5 mph tailwind is good. Riding 12 mph plus 5 mph is 17 mph. Coming back the same way is 10 mph less, harder to maintain, and not so good.
Fixed hope
An intense focus on positive expectations. A practice that needs repeated more often. Having clarity and focus on hoping for one thing done at a time gets results.
Happy hope
An anticipation of something transcendent and more than a person’s capacity to decide to make happen. Everything seems to be going right. The Olympic gymnast’s positive expectations of the perfect score and getting it.
Door of hope
Certain things need to happen before the initiation of hope occurs. “Until she notices me, I’m not bothering to pursue her.” The opening of certain doors or conditions stir up an unanticipated expectation.
Hope prison
Seemingly delusional, but paradoxically a good thing with a refusal to give up. In the book The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal, research reveals how equipped a person feels to handle a situation dictates whether it is categorized as a challenge or a threat. Getting into the habit or “prison” of viewing situations as challenges with positive expectations fosters possibility thinking.
Group hope
A good place to be. Like minded people in agreement with a legitimate, meaningful, and worthy cause in the near future.
Summary
Wrapping up part 2 of the Hope Doctor Prescription, this summarizes the advantages of using the sub category of short-term high hopes. The old adage of “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” applies here.
Hopelessness is a major component of depression. Having a number of short-term high hopes available provides various ways to prevent a long-term problem. Neglecting to change a vehicle’s motor oil is not noticeable at first. Continue that neglect and the engine still runs, but not as smoothly. Ignore those signs long enough and eventually the engine ceases to function.
Applying the short-term hopes tactfully to the first indications of negative thinking is wise. Don’t wait until the cute baby polar bear grows into an adult that looks harmless (thanks to Coke commercials!), but instinctually kills and eats to survive. Be assertive, counter the low hopes before they grow.
Applying all the short-term high hopes needed is a great strategy to win the battle of the mind. The good news is these positive expectations counter negative thinking and complement the deeper rooted long-term high hopes. The combination of these two forms a formidable defense for maintaining optimism and well-being. See Hope Doctor Rx Part 3 for an explanation of the big guns, long-term high hopes, adding to the arsenal of weapons to fight low hopes.
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