The Secret To Turning Hurt Into Hope
Hurt, Hope and Hype As humans, we tend to overanalyze and overgeneralize our circumstances. If we are having a bad day, we think the world is going to end. We groan and mumble "story of my life" under our breath.
When we get ALL green lights on our way to work, we feel like we won the lottery.
We look at our entire life through the lens of what is going on at that exact moment, but disregard hope for the future. We can get so stuck in our current situations that we don't recognize the impact hope has on our lives.
Sometimes we think of hope as a religious idea or a spiritual thing, but there’s been a lot of research about the power of hope in our lives and the impact that it has. Researchers did a study on students who had the same intellectual capacity and found that the more hopeful students tended to score better on their tests. Also they found that more hopeful employees were more productive at work.
So, here are three "H" words to help you evaluate what's going on in your life.
Hurt.
Hurt is when we constantly see ourselves as victims. Nothing ever works out. There are always stormy clouds hanging over our head. Life sucks.
Hype
Hype brings good to all things. Everything is great all the time. There are no problems in the world. Neither of these are good outlooks or honest places to be.
Hope is our happy medium.
Hope is recognizing life brings pain and struggles, but there is still sun behind the clouds. There are still things to look forward to and life can be better.
WE WANT TO HAVE HOPE
Here are some helpful ways to bring more hope into your life:
1. Surround yourself with more hopeful people. Get around people who have a more positive attitude about life and will impact you in a way that will lift your hope and spirit.
2. Know that God is FOR you and that He is faithful. No matter what you're going through, if you are currently under a storm cloud, remember there is hope and there is a better tomorrow!
Content from Faith Matters: Mike Foster Fox 5 San Diego