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A Dose of Hope: Soul Sculpting Project

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A Dose of Hope: Soul Sculpting Project

What is Hope?

The expectation that:

  • Something good will happen –or–
  • Bad, threatening stuff will not actually happen –or–
  • No matter what happens ‘it will be okay’

 Psychology definition: The expectation that one will have positive experiences or that a potentially threatening or negative situation will not materialize or will ultimately result in a favorable state of affairs.

What happens when we choose the emotion Hope?

Our Body:

  • Our brain sends chemicals (endorphins and enkephalins) that help block pain and accelerate healing.These are our body’s natural morphine – with no negative side effects.

Our Behavior —  We will:

  • Have clearer goals
  • Create multiple pathways to reach a goal 
  • See barriers as simply challenges to be overcome to reach our goal

Our Mental State — We experience:

  • Improved life satisfaction
  • Greater resilience
  • Lower levels of depression 
  • Greater commitment to our goals and more motivation to take action towards achieving them.

Hope is a foundational emotion for our well-being and a fundamental emotion encouraged in Scripture.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess (Heb: 10:23)

 I pray that . . .  you may know the hope to which God has called you. . . (Eph. 1:18) 

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength . (Is. 40:31)

The eyes of the LORD are on those . . . whose hope is in his unfailing love. (Ps. 33:18)

Hope is an Emotion

 Believe it or not we have a great deal of power over our emotions. Emotions do not happen ‘to’ us.  We are the creators of our emotions.

We use narrative (stories), self-talk, and  imagination to help us choose appropriate emotions all day long.

Create a depressing, hopeless narrative and we will promote emotions that are darker and hopeless. Create an encouraging, hopeful narrative and our emotions will tend to be ones of hope.

  • Question: But can we just make up a hopeful story when the true story is hopeless? 
  • Answer: So how true are our stories? We try to tell true stories, but — we are not the All-Knowing God. We lack full data. We are biased. Our memories are faulty. 

We only “know in part . . . we see in a mirror dimly”.  (1 Cor. 13:9,12)

If the stories we tell ourselves are not 100% true, could it be possible to adjust our stories to ones that support a realistic hope?

What about hopes that are unrealistic? 

Sometimes we find ourselves in a cycle of failure. We hope to make a life change and our attempts end in failure, over and over.  This hope-failure cycle frequently involves unrealistic expectations about the likely speed, amount, ease, and consequences of our chosen life change.

  • It will take longer, be harder, and cost more than we thought.

When we find ourselves in a failure cycle it’s time to get connected with God and make some adjustments together. 

Hopes can be adjusted.

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Henry Ford, 1922

 Soul Sculpting Project: A Dose of Hope 

  1. Invite God’s company. God knows all about stories and can help you create a good one.
  2. Imagine yourself in the future.
  3. Tell yourself a short story of hope where one or all of these three situations happens.
    1. Something good happens
    2. Bad, threatening stuff does not actually happen
    3. No matter what happens ‘it’s okay’
  4. Ponder: What is one very small action I could take to promote this hope? (An action that takes 1-3 minutes a day- max.

Action moves us from wishful thinking to genuine hope

The first time I heard about the value of Hope was in reading a research study about men who had just had a heart attack and were now attending a life-style change support group. The study found that to succeed in making a lifestyle change, the men needed 3 things.

  1. Information, tools on how to live differently. 
  2. The support of others in this group. 
  3. The hope that a lifestyle change is possible. 

For these men hope was a primary ticket to a longer life expectancy.

I think hope is a primary ticket for all of us to a life of well-being. Increasing our level of hope is worth our time.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

My gratitude to Elaine Houston and the  many researchers who have explored the topic of hope.

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