How to Maintain an Attitude of Hope

It is easy for many of us to feel less than enthusiastic about our lives lately given changes in our economies and living conditions. How can we maintain an attitude (a sense of) hope during these difficult times?

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 
    
   image

   The first step is to focus on our current moment. What are we experiencing right now. Identify our perceptions by describing to ourselves what we feel and think currently. It may also be helpful to perform this exercise with a trusted friend.

2. 
    
   image

   The second step is to make a list of things we are grateful for. Some examples include our health, a job if we are working, our savings if we have some, food, clothing, and basic necessities. Other items can include friends, family members, clubs we belong to, abilities we have, hobbies, and possessions. The list is ours so it is important that we right down what we a grateful for and not make a list of what others tell us we should be grateful for.

3. 
    
   image

   The third step is to create a box to be used as a container to keep our gratitude list in (a shoe box can work). We date our gratitude list and place it in the box. (Using index cards to list our items may save space and are easier to work with than notebook paper).

4. 
    
   image

   After reading our list we now articulate to ourselves (and/or trusted friends)using "I" statements. For example, we can say to ourselves "I am glad that I..." or "I am hopeful that my life will continue to improve..." What we do in at this stage is to create affirmations. These affirmations can change our perspectives. If any of the affirmations we create really hit home for us, we can write them down and put them in our gratitude box.

Tips & Warnings

• We might find through time that the content of our gratitude box seems to be repetitious. If we find that happens, we can enter the content into a word processing document or spreadsheet and periodically print out the most current document version to place in the gratitude list
• Consider sharing your gratitude list with trusted friends and ask them to contribute. They may share ideas you have not thought of.
• If you would like even more feedback, consider sharing content on a Web page or a using a blog. Make sure you have permission to share any content from your trusted friends and make sure you attribute their content to them.
• If you keep practicing thinking positive thoughts, you will find that your life will change. You will become more calm, feel more at peace, and your thinking will become clearer.

[believeinfamily]

on 7/16/2009 5*. Great article. I especially like step 2. :)

[gahazeleyes]

on 6/14/2009 Thanks for a nice article.