Normalize Losing Hope

I was reading an article about hope earlier in the summer and it discussed both optimism and hope.  It argued that they are the only way we will make it through the pandemic.  I realized that although I am a realist, I am realistically optimistic.  I try to see the silver lining in a situation, after I have dissected it, of course.  It is this practice that affords me the opportunity to see things from all sides and then make an informed decision.  Having or losing hope is no different.  You have to research and make an informed decision about what hope should look like and then move accordingly. 

Hope is similar to faith.  In some ways, it’s unwavering, something that you only need a small amount of for it to be effective.  However, similar to faith it is also unseen.  Hope is defined as an expectation and faith is defined as confidence.  When I look at them side by side, and defined in this way, I realize that having hope is having an expectation that something will work out.  In essence, faith is having confidence in the same thing.  They are not synonymous in definition.  However, they are both abstract feelings. 

I named my blog, teachthemhope, in an effort to help people understand that as a community, it is our job to teach our kids about hope, or expectations.  Sometimes faith must take over so that this expectation morphs into confidence.  So, in essence, sometimes it’s okay to normalize a loss of hope, or expectation in order to gain a little slice of faith.  Stay safe and wear a mask.