Finding ways to find hope when you feel hopeless can be really hard.
If you have ever been at a really low point in your life, perhaps after a bad breakup or even the loss of a loved one, you will know just how hopeless it can feel and how lonely and isolated you can become, both physically and emotionally. At times like this, it can be very difficult to see the bigger picture, and it may feel like you are going to be in this pit of unhappiness and despair forever. However, with the right people around you and the right advice to follow, there is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel, and it might be closer than you think. Here are five ways to find hope when you feel hopeless.
One of the best ways to find hope when you feel hopeless is to look inside. This involves of all of the activities you can do that relate to yourself and refocusing your mind. These include journaling to document your feelings, so you can look back on them and recognise how much you have progressed and improved, meditation so that you can centre yourself and block out all external noise, yoga so that you have a challenge to commit to. and, most importantly, therapy, because the help of a professional should never be looked at as a sign of weakness.
You may have forgotten, in your sadness, just how good it feels to be kind to others. Practise a few acts of random kindness, perhaps giving food to the homeless, and you will be filled with a sense of hope that you can continue to make a positive difference in the world.
Building on from random acts of kindness, volunteering at a local charity can do wonders fro your self esteem and for rebuilding your sense of hope and kindness. Whether it’s visiting the elderly, walking sheltered dogs or even doing a shift at a local charity shop, the act of being selfless will help you to get out of your own head and focus on making a positive change.
If you’re period of hopelessness just happens to fall during the time of an election, national or local, then one thing you can do is get behind a candidate that you really respect and campaign for them. If they give you hope in the future, then reciprocate that goodwill by spreading their message and doing everything you can to get them elected!
Sometimes our brains just need a kick start to find their hopefulness again, and this can be achieved in a simple way by watching, reading and listening to TV, movies, book and music that you feel can really lift you up and give you a form of escapism. It might not the best form of television, but something like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition can leave you weeping in a puddle of joyful tears at just how kind and giving people can be to one another!