How To Find Hope When You Feel You’ve Lost It

Everyone has moments where they feel completely hopeless. These feelings are often brought on by traumatic experiences or repeated failures. Sometimes, it can get so bad that you no longer want to get out of bed, and the things that once brought you joy no longer spark your interest. When your friends and family call to check on you, the calls can end up in the dark expanse of our unchecked voicemail. Every day you go through the motions of existence, barely engaging in your own life. The world swirls around you in a blur of activity. You do not have the energy or the interest to look for moments of joy anymore.

When you begin to feel like this, remember that you have not always been this way. You have not always cried and sat in uncomfortable emotions day after day. As much as you want to pull yourself out of this darkness, it’s difficult to find ways to feel like there is hope again. If this sounds like you, read on to discover a few ways to start to regain your hope.

3 Ways to Regain Hope

#1. Focus on the positive. This can be difficult when you feel there is nothing positive to focus on when all situations seem so bleak that the silver lining is a deep dark gray that no sunlight can break through. Start small when looking for positives. For example, you are able to get out of bed. Some people don’t have the capability. You may have a job that you do not like, but at least you have a job. If the sun has come up, if you woke up today, if you have a nice fuzzy blanket or a snack around that you love, there are positive things around you. Start small until you can think of more and bigger positives.

#2. Believe in yourself. You are capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for. Despite your sadness, you get up every day and show up. You are a beautiful being, even if you are going through a difficult time. Try setting at least one or two goals for yourself. These goals don’t have to be anything like summit Mt. Denali or end world hunger. It can be something as small as sitting at your favorite park to walking a mile to starting a project you’ve been thinking about. Small steps can build up to a fantastic journey.

Don’t be too strict with yourself and do what you can when you can. Maybe you set your goal for the day to work out, but when you get there, the hot tub has your name all over it. It’s okay! The positive is that you got out of bed and made it to the gym. That treadmill will be there tomorrow when you come back. Give yourself grace. It’s okay not to be on track all the time. Some days will be better than others, but keep believing that you can get there.

Try using some positive affirmations. These are short statements that allow you to become familiar with hearing your voice talk positively about you. Affirmations help you overcome negative self-talk and engage in positive thinking toward yourself. Saying these things is the first step toward believing them, so say something positive about yourself at the start of every day.

#3. Surround yourself with positivity. Everyone has moments where engaging in negativity is much easier than engaging in positivity. It’s all too easy today to judge or gossip rather than build someone up. But is that the right thing to do? Where does being negative get you? In the end, it gets you nowhere. Surrounding yourself with positivity is such an easy way to combat hopelessness.

The power of positivity is a secret weapon that goes mostly unnoticed by mainstream society. Positivity is so easy once you get the hang of it. You don’t have to be a ray of sunshine or anything like that. Just like with your goals, start small. Instead of thinking poorly of someone’s fashion choices or taste in movies, notice their radiant smile or the kind way they treat people.

As big a deal as it is for you to be positive, it’s equally important that the people around you remain positive. Surround yourself with people who enjoy life, who make it easy to think positively of them, or who help you find positivity in everyone and everything. Find people who have similar interests to you. It may be time to make new friends.

When you fall into feelings of hopelessness, it can feel like there is very little anyone or anything can do to help ease the crushing sadness that has ebbed into the fabric of our existence. The cause of hopelessness can stem from many things. Divorce, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, the crushing of a dream, all of these things, and more can cause you to feel hopeless. You might have no idea where to turn. Luckily, there are ways to combat these feelings. Surrounding yourself with positivity and warmth can help you find hope again. If you feel like you need to talk to a professional, the staff at SokyaHealth would be happy to connect you with someone who can help you work through your feelings of hopelessness and offer support to find your hope again. Call 800-930-0803 to speak with someone today.