Hope is the thing with feathers, apparently. I’ve got a few of those outside my window as I write, but I don’t know that they are necessarily what I am looking for right now. It is definitely true, however, that hope is a major component of the human psyche. When we lose it altogether, we die.

Being a born optimist, I can’t imagine a situation with no hope whatsoever, but I do know that it exists – I see people with depression around me, and it breaks my heart to see them so lacking in hope and joy. If it’s not too bad then the coaching tools I am learning can help (and better nutrition never hurt anyone), but for some there seems to be no hope, and that is so sad.

For the rest of us, what is hope, really, and what can we do with it as we approach the end of the year 5774 and the end of this blog post series?

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about hope.

Hope is an optimistic attitude of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: “expect with confidence” and “to cherish a desire with anticipation”. Among its opposites are dejection, hopelessness and despair.

I most definitely expect positive outcomes in the year 5775, and I cherish, with anticipation, the desire to be healthy, to help others become healthy and happy, and to grow my business while doing so.

How about you, what positive outcomes do you anticipate?