How to keep hope alive
I love this world, even though lately it seems that a lot of I love about it (the oceans, the people, the rivers, forests and the animals in them) are hanging on by a thread. And even though in all this misery being broadcasted by media, I still choose to believe there is hope. Because even though there are so many awful people doing terrible things to others and to the planet we inhabit, there are still many others trying to do their best to save this beautiful earth.
This is a rational decision, and one that helps me to keep going, and if you’re wondering how you can keep your hope alive amidst chaos, this is how I manage it.
I am choosing to believe there is hope. And, in many ways, that helps me take action, be it by helping someone else or by trying to make my own life a little better, taking care of my own chronically ill body, by trying to have more confidence in my own future instead of drowning in misery and fear of calamity.
It is important to keep yourself updated, but sometimes being glued to the tv while watching the news makes us forget that negative stories often take priority in the media, and those are important, but it is equally as important to keep yourself updated on good news, and when those seem scarce, then it’s time to focus on what you can do to make things a bit better.
There are people counting on despair, on anxiety, on insecurity, on fear so they can stay in power, so they can make more money and so they can distract others from seeing the incredible harm they are causing behind the scenes.
But if I let despair paralyze me, then I won’t fight for a good future for myself, for others, for future generations. And even though my power is comparably smaller, it doesn’t mean it’s non-existent.
Sometimes staying alive and embracing who you are, accepting all the other ways people can be different and still worthy of being alive as they are is an act of resistance. Sometimes donating food is an act of resistance. Sometimes donating clothes you don’t use anymore can help others during winter. Even if it’s just a bit of help, it’s better than being so desperate I become paralyzed and don’t do anything.
Being chronically ill and disabled and queer is a fight in itself. But that doesn’t mean I should give up. Because some people are counting on inaction so they can keep themselves in power. But staying alive, in this body of mine, is resisting the fact that a lot of people still look down on people like me, still deny us healthcare, still deny us accommodations or any acceptance.
Helping others in the small ways I can also allows me to see that there is hope as long as I keep going and help others go on too. And I am probably not alone in this: as humans, we strive to build connection and communities - people usually want to help others. This is not a desire only I feel, and it is not something only you feel. There are others trying to make the best out of a bad deal, just as you and I.
Hope is not just expecting for the best without doing anything. Hope is what allows me to act. And acting in anyway I can fills me with hope – and this is how you can keep your hope alive too. It’s scary out there, but it’s even scarier if we don’t do anything about it, and sometimes helping those in your neighborhood or helping people who are in marginalized groups or by showing those who are different than you are that you accept them as they are, or existing in your own authentic way and taking care of yourself has more power than you realize now. Hope and action go hand in hand.
