Holding onto HOPE

This week, I’ve been sitting with a word.

It’s not a big or fancy one, just a simple four-letter word that has been with me more times than I can count.

HOPE.

In the internal battles we all face, it can often feel like we are the only ones experiencing them.

But this week, I have stopped and listened to the stories of those around me, and with clear reality, I know we are never alone in this feeling. I have heard someone’s story of being forced to rebuild their life after devastation, a story of someone lost in their relationship, a story of someone losing a loved one. This is where holding onto hope is so important.

And in each story, I can hear it. Even under the worst times and hardest moments, there is a spark, a superpower in all of us, an ability to HOPE that things can and will get better.

Haven’t we all been there? In the middle of a moment where you can’t quite see the next step, something in you whispers, “Keep going, you have got this!” “You will be okay.”

What is that voice? I believe it’s hope.

It’s the invisible thread that’s stitched us back together during heartbreak, uncertainty, exhaustion and disconnection. When we ask ourselves:

Will I come back from this setback?

Will I feel like myself again?

Will things ever feel easy?

And I realise that hope has always answered, “Yes, just not yet. Keep going."

And so, I wanted to give HOPE a little more life this week and to honour it for all that it gives us. Because in NLP, we talk about anchors. They are internal triggers that help us shift our state, even when the external world hasn’t caught up yet, and I thought… what if HOPE could be that anchor for us?

Here’s how I see it now:

H - is for finding Happiness to Heal.

Now, I am not talking about the shiny “look at me, I’m so happy all the time” unrealistic version. I’m talking about the ability to find it within. No pictures, no Instagram moments.

It’s that small giggle, even when you didn’t think you would again. It’s the memory of a loved one, and the stories you can laugh about when you think of them.

When I think about happiness, I remember a simple moment this weekend, going to watch some local fireworks with Amelia. We were only there for about an hour, it was cold and I wasn’t sure about it. Everything was telling me to just go home, but we went anyway. The moment the lights went out and we snuggled on the chair and looked up, I felt it. Watching her little face and the night sky light up was pure happiness and I felt healed. Healed from the day, and from the emotions I was experiencing.

This is why I love the power of happiness because it can appear in the smallest moments and reminds us we are alive, that we continue even when things get hard, and each time, it heals a little part of our hearts.

O - is for Opportunity

I was listening to a friend this week who has lost everything, and I mean everything. And what struck me the most is their ability to talk about how this moment, as hard as it has been and how devastating it was, has been a chance to refocus, reset and start new.

They could still find an opportunity to look at what is possible, to see it as something that starts again. Even when things fall apart, hope reminds us to look again. There’s always something to learn, to heal, to grow from. Even in loss, even in endings, there is an invitation to begin again.

P - is for Presence

As I reflect on the stories shared with me, I notice something in each person: there is a presence in each of them. They are connected to the right now, with what is in front of them, seeing the beauty in the simple moments with those that truly matter, and just being.

And I think this is what hope tells us. It says that we can stop and really look at what is with us in the here and now. In the breath we take, the cup of coffee we drink, the cuddle, in the single moment where you remember: I’m still here, and I’m still choosing to be.

E - is for Empathy

It’s easy to become angry, frustrated and annoyed with what has happened, to get sucked into the drama cycles, to give up and think the worst of yourself and those around you. But in the face of hard times, I could see that hope seeks from us the ability to have empathy for ourselves and others. To have grace with those who don’t understand, to see each point of view and reach out.

Because when we feel hopeless, we also tend to feel alone. But what is so true right now is that we are rarely ever alone in what we feel. We just need to be able to share it, reach out, be honest and be open to the world around us.

And I believe this is why empathy shows up when we have hope.

So maybe this week isn’t about fixing everything (besides, who said it was broken?).

Maybe it’s just about letting HOPE find its way into our hearts to soften our exterior and help us see that happiness, opportunity, presence and empathy lie in us all.

Let’s use it.

With heart, and constant hope,

Vikki x

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