Facing the unknown with high hopes

"We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

Hope is one of those intangible concepts we can choose to gravitate toward, or resist. We all reside somewhere on the spectrum of hope, which I will couple with faith for the post, as they are often linked by optimism and strong belief that a Force greater than ourselves helps to orchestrate that which with hope for and have faith in.

Observing hope and faith through a Divine lens can also have us questioning why what we had hoped for, or had faith in, did not transpire. And how or why do we continue relying on both hope and faith, when we understand it does not guarantee us our desired outcome.

It helps us measure our belief, or the notion that life unfolds the way it does for a reason. What role we play in how life plays out is one of those question that offer a variety of possibilities. By subscribing to a multiverse theory, we can essentially tune into an alternate version of ourselves with an alternate ending of our life than what it was yesterday, or last year.

With a "choose your own adventure" approach to life, the possibilities can be literally endless. This leaves plenty of room for hope, that we can steer our lives into the right direction with help from an external Force, and live out more potentially favorable scenarios. This is a much more fun approach to hope, in a less deterministic view of life. More wiggle room for free will.

Photo by Karl Fredrickson on Unsplash

From a more religious view of life, hope and faith are typically left in the hands of God or other deities. We can use God as a more universal term. Depending on your religion or faith, prayers and intentions are either answered, or unanswered. That may be oversimplifying it, but it essentially leads to one or the other. It's the period of flux that may be challenging in determining if and when God steps in to manifest our desires or answer our prayers.

We still must be willing to create new potential and favorable scenarios when the windows of potential for other opportunities are closing. It's when faith becomes a reminder that we still get to choose our next steps, and . We may not get a say in the hand we're dealt, but we get to play the hand. We can be more careful, or take more of a risk.

Either way, when we live with hope and faith, we gravitate toward a more favorable outcome, since we become more willing to take action toward a desired outcome. A doom and gloom outlook only serves to resist actions that provide more favorable outcomes.

Whether it's from a perspective of tuning into the right frequency in some multiverse matrix, or trusting in God to answer our prayers, it's hope and faith that fuel and inspire our motivation to make it happen. Otherwise, it can feel like we are wandering aimlessly through life, which does not leave much room for hope or faith.

To create a life filled with more purpose and joy, hope and faith can provide the fuel and inspiration needed to make this journey worth the time we were granted for this particular go-around. When our desires line up with our lives, we can rely on faith to keep us headed in the right direction, knowing we could not have done it without that carrot of hope dangling in the distance.

More Wellness!

• Greater Good: Eight Ways You Can Feel More Hopeful—Even in Dark Times

• Psychology Today: 7 Habits of the Most Hopeful People

• PsychCentral: The Psychology of Hope - Why is hope so important?