Embrace Summer - Cultivate Hope and Sunshine
As many succumb to the emotional and mental health concerns of addiction, trauma, unemployment, or poverty, focus instead on what you can change and realize happiness and health as you Hang Onto Positive Expectations.
Hope
1. Protects from Negative Emotions
When something negative happens our brain immediately conjures up the worst-case scenario. Hope keeps us on track and turns a negative situation into a positive one.
2. Reduces Fear
Hope reduces fear and provides strength. When you feel fear, hoping that everything is going to be okay is a stabilizer.
3. Sets Opportunities for Growth
Life is full of highs and lows, and hope provides the motivation to learn from our falls and never give up.
4. Helps to Achieve Goals
When you aim to realize your goals, Hope provides strength and the encouragement that one day you are going to achieve your goals.
5. Fosters Beliefs
Hope lets you live life on your terms and strengthens the belief you can achieve more.
6. With Hope There is Life
When we have hope we start living and enjoying life.
7. Powerful Therapy
Hope fills us with joy, happiness, inner peace, and a reason to be alive and live life to the fullest.
8. Maintains a Sense of Humour
With a great sense of humor, life is not onerous, we are able to achieve a lot.
9. Brings Success
With hope and a sense of humor, you realize success.
10. Helps to Maintain Social Relationships
Hope maintains social and personal relationships. It illuminates our darkest moments, our dreary days. Where there is life there is hope and the desire for social relationships.
Ways to cultivate hope
1. Mindfulness
Meditation and other mindfulness practices can helps maintain a sense of calm.
2. Develop a Spiritual Life
Experience something greater than yourself, read spiritual books, participate in religious services or community groups, maybe hike or sit in a natural setting.
3. Do Something You Love
As often as possible, do whatever makes you smile. Participate in activities that bring you joy - surf. ride a horse, garden, knit, sew cook or play music.
4. Be with People Who Make You Feel Good
Who are your close friends or family? Spend time with them. If not in person, call, text, or a video chat. Connection is critical, reach out and let them know you care.
5. Be of Service
Can you connect with someone who needs to talk, and just listen? When we are of service, we’re not thinking of ourselves and become spreaders of hope.
6. Find Gratitude
Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation for your good. Recognizing what are grateful for can uplift us when negativity engulfs us, or we begin to entertain negative thoughts.
7. Mental Health:
Hope acts as a protective barrier against depression. When hope thrives, the shadows of despair recede.
8. Hope: Why it matters
With hope, there is a feeling that circumstances can improve, that we can persist, that there is at least as much good in the world as bad.
9. What does hope for us
Hope is beginning to reveal its value in scientific studies. Among young adults with chronic illnesses, greater hope is associated with improved coping, well-being, and engagement in healthy behaviors.
10. Hope is a shield and a path
It is a protector against chronic or life-threatening illness. Even when facing an illness that may be terminal — hope can be cultivated and focused on milestones, such as meeting grandchildren or attending a child’s wedding.
11. Pitfalls of false hope
Unrealistic expectations can keep people from embracing moments of comfort and joy as they spy a distant mirage. Focusing on unrealistic expectations can also prevent people from making choices about important issues. Weighing the quality of your life and possible paths toward a good end of life can take a back seat to possibly staving off death.
12. Hoping for hope
Each day, spending a few minutes recounting the positives in our life — whether big or small even things creates endorphins that can have an enormous impact. With hope, we can begin to envision ways our circumstances can improve.
How hope affects our health
1. Coping and resilience
Greater degrees of hope are associated with improved coping – providing a mental health shield, and enabling individuals to navigate life’s challenges with determination and grace.
Hope fosters resilience that enables us to bounce back and more effectively face adversity.
2. Mental health
Protection against depression – when hope thrives, the shadows of despair recede.
Suicide prevention – a hopeful outlook reduces the risk of suicide.
3. Physical health
Longevity – researchers found that individuals with a hopeful outlook throughout their lives, tend to have better physical health, healthier behaviours and stronger social support. They may even enjoy a longer life.
Chronic health problems – hope contributes to fewer chronic health problems and lower risk of cancer.
Less anxiety – hope diminishes anxiety, allowing us to face uncertainty with courage.
Bring sunshine and happiness into your life
1. Go outside – enjoy the sun and fresh air
2. Try something new – ask yourself if there is something you could try that would bring you happiness.
3. Read Sunny Day quotes
4. Help others develop new skills or educate them about aspects of health and wellness.
5. Be active
6. Make smarter choices
We make lots of choices every day, and while some of them make us happy, many don’t.
You can make smaller, smarter choices that bring sunshine and happiness into your life. Think before you make decisions and before taking action. Don’t react impulsively.
Start by making smaller choices, such as making a healthy snack instead of a sugary one, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or putting your phone away when you’re with others.
7. Be Grateful Everyday
Gratitude is powerful, and it can help to bring sunshine and happiness into your life.
Start by remembering the little things, no matter how small. Make a daily reminder to be grateful for the little things in life, your job, food or friends. Things like this can seem small, but they can be very important.
8. Focus on Positivity and Optimism - the Sunshine in your life
There are lots of ways to bring sunshine and happiness into your life, and the most important is to focus on positivity and optimism. By focusing on these, you build a happy, healthy and successful life.
This means putting away negative feelings and reminding yourself of the good in your life. As you continue to be positive and optimistic it becomes easier in time.
When you’re stuck in a rut of negative energy, it may be difficult to pull yourself out. Thankfully, there are ways to bring positive energy into your life. First, think positively, which can dispel negative feelings and energies. Then make a commitment to prioritize your thoughts and feelings ahead of others, thereby you can stay on top of your own mental health. Always remember—when it comes to your life, your happiness is most important.
Thinking Positively
1 Expect that good things will happen for you. Each morning when you wake anticipate that something great is on your horizon. Keep your mind in a positive, hopeful place. A positive attitude can welcome positive energy into your life, turning a mediocre day into a great one.
2. Keep your expectations realistic. A positive attitude probably won’t make your lottery dream come true, but it will make you feel happier throughout the day.
For example - tell yourself aloud that you’re going to have a good day as soon as you wake up in the morning. Or, if you’re worried that you did poorly on a task, make a specific effort to let that worry go. Tell yourself, “I can’t change what happened, so I’m going to make my day better by doing something I’ll enjoy.
3. Don’t dwell on your problems and illnesses. Try not to invest negative energy thinking about uncontrollable parts of your life, instead focus on aspects you can control instead.
For instance, if I eel like I’m coming down with a cold, I try not to focus on my symptoms
4 Try to laugh and smile whenever possible. I like the habit of smiling daily.
Invite positive energy into your life by actively seeking out the wholesome and funny aspects. Try to fill your life with positive people who always bring a smile to your face.
For example, try to get in the habit of sincerely laughing at others’ upbeat stories.
Did you know smiling has scientific benefits? Whenever you smile, dopamine and serotonin are released in your brain, which makes you feel happier.
5. Say thanks for all your good. When you’re alone, acknowledge everything in your life that makes you happy, like your friends and family.
6. Forgive those who have wronged you. Do you harbor negative feelings? If so, you could be welcoming negative energy without realizing it. Take a moment to mentally forgive the people who have hurt you and expel their influence from your life.
Forgiveness means that you’re absolving yourself of the issue and the emotional turmoil that comes with it.
Putting Yourself First
1. Commit to loving yourself. Take a moment to think about all of your positive qualities, jot down anything that you’re good at, whatever it is. While it may be difficult to think of good things about yourself, remember that you’ll be inviting positive energy into your life once you do.
For example, try saying positive things about yourself out loud. Even if you struggle to believe what you say, hearing these affirmations can help you build up your confidence.
2. Don’t compromise your own happiness for other people. Although it’s important to think of others, try not to forget about yourself in the process. Before agreeing to do something with a friend or family member, decide if it’s something that would make you happy or not. By avoiding stressful activities and tasks, you can invite a lot more positive, productive energy into your life.
3. Take active steps to achieve your goals. If you want to accomplish something big, think of actionable ways you can reach these goals. Don’t expect to fulfill your dreams in a week or a month—instead, divide your goals into small, achievable baby steps. As you accomplish each step, take a moment to celebrate the little victories.
4. Aim to be mindful and present every day. Keep yourself rooted in the events and activities of your daily schedule in the moment. Instead of doing things automatically, take a moment to consider how and why you’re doing these things. Prioritize your awareness in everything that you do to welcome more productive, positive energy into your life.
Mindfulness isn’t a task that you can check off a list. It’s a lifestyle you incorporate each day, starting from when you wake up.
5. Set boundaries with others on a regular basis. Perform frequent maintenance on your friendships. Whenever you to speak with a friend or acquaintance, pay attention to your own thoughts and feelings. For example, if you dislike it when a friend calls you “sweetie,” speak up about it.
6. Play upbeat, encouraging music daily. Motivate yourself to do household chores and other typically boring tasks by singing and dancing along to catchy tunes. Try creating a playlist of your favorite tunes.
How do you bring yourself out of a rut in life?
When we find ourselves in a rut, it's because we need to reassess our values. Values change as we change in life, and so often when we're feeling stuck, it's because our values have changed, and we haven't caught up to what those are. So, the first thing is to reassess your values and, secondly, look at what needs to be removed in order to create a clearer pathway to have those values met.
How do you encourage yourself when no one else does?
Try saying positive things out loud to yourself. Over time, this will build your confidence and positive mindset.
How do you cultivate and maintain a positive mindset?
Create a habit of being positive. Be intentional about talking positively and expressing gratitude. Over time, this will feel more natural.
In my roles as professor, facilitator, and coach, I recognize that hope is essential to all our accomplishments.
For instance, students who have high hopes get high grades because for them, hope
· is directly related to motivation.
· creates self-worth.
· improves social relations.
· leads to positive thinking.
· makes their days happy and cheerful.
Helen Pearman Ziral, PhD is a purpose driven coach and facilitator whose work is centered around personal transformation and wellness. She assists women in uncovering their true essence and to shine as the person they are meant to be. Dr Helen Z has conducted individual and group coaching sessions and workshops about achieving the balance essential to multiple dimensions of wellness. https://drhelenz.com
Comments