Is it time to be hopeful?

For many of us it’s been a bad year. A year which has been dominated by a strange combination of fear and tedium. It seems like a distant age when we were planning holidays abroad and hugging our friends. Overnight our hopes and dreams turned into squirting out hand sanitiser and squinting fearfully above a mask in the supermarket.

And yet, somehow, it’s not all been bad. Yes, it’s been a period of intense and often painful turmoil, but exciting new possibilities are emerging. We could make 2021 not only a year of recovery but also a time when we find better ways to live.

Of course, it won’t be easy, yet hope is a powerful thing. It can inspire us to do what seems impossible. Hope can help us navigate through the difficult times. Being hopeful and optimistic has a positive impact not just on our mental health but also our physical well-being. A 2020 study from Harvard found that people who are optimistic were 22% less likely to develop high blood pressure, reducing the risk of developing heart disease and stroke.

So when our thoughts dictate fear and hopelessness, where do we find hope and optimism? They can be found in many different ways, sometimes we just need to work out where and how to look.

Thinking back over the past year, try to make a mental list (or a written one) of all the positives. My list includes the roar of traffic being replaced by birdsong, discovering new dog walks on my door step and finding out what really does matter in my life. Our brains sometimes remember traumatic experiences more easily than good ones. So have your ‘happiness list’ ready when the negative thoughts try to take over.

Remember that everything alters, nothing stays still, life will inevitably change. The important thing is being ready to adjust to change and looking for the positives rather than the negatives.

So as the evenings are getting lighter, the days are warming up and restrictions are being lifted, we have plenty to give us hope. In the words of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh,

“It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.”

We are all in this together and there is hope.

Sending you lots of positive thoughts

Jo (Willow and Daisy) xxx