How To Reconnect With Hope When You're Struggling To Find It — In 8 Simple Steps

Feeling hopeful can be good for your mental health, motivate you to be more proactive about going after goals, and even draw in manifestation possibilities.

We might loosely define hope as allowing for the possibility that things can or will change for the better, such as circumstances improving or our ability to navigate them improving. For some, mindfully connecting with hope is an act of faith.

Hope can be an inner experience that does not rely on outer circumstances. For example, choosing to be hopeful about the possibility of making something meaningful, positive, or nourishing out of a setback or loss.

Hope might help you feel more engaged with life and connected to others if you've been feeling distant or disengaged, or hope might be a way of inspiring yourself to go after a dream if you're stuck in a rut. 

Hope is a positive emotion that can make you feel expansive, light, playful, energized, and joyous. Experiencing positive emotions regularly could make people feel more balanced and resilient. Hope may even be part of how some people heal and move forward when recovering from a painful occurrence.

Emotions are incredibly complex and many times contradictory. You don't have to be all in or all out on Team Hope. It's not only healthy to acknowledge challenging emotions and circumstances, being real with yourself can be a relief and a crucial part of grieving. And there may still be moments when you feel hopeful or want to.

Hope doesn't have to be over-the-top huge or wildly unrealistic—you can hope in a grounded, practical, proportionate way.

Try working with a hopeful thought, like, "I believe some good might come from this, or that at least a silver lining could be revealed to me in time." Or, "I've faced setbacks before, and I often come through stronger and wiser." Or, "Even if things don't turn out exactly how I want, I'm trusting that putting myself out there will bring new energy, lessons, and opportunities into my life."

Piggyback onto hope by remembering when you hoped for something positive in the past…and it happened! It could be a miraculous healing, helpful person, or an ideal opportunity that came into your life right on time.

If you're feeling scared or dejected about the state of the world, recall a moment when something amazingly positive happened for the collective. Let yourself feel the energy of hope from those old memories in your body.

When you're feeling a lack of hope, focus on what you can give. Put out a product or offering that's encouraging. Show up for a shift at work with the intention of bringing more uplifting energy to those around you.

When you find a way to share your light with others—whether it's helping a co-worker organize their desk, helping a child solve a difficult homework problem, donating time or money to a worthy cause, becoming an advocate for those suffering most, or reminding a friend that they're loved—you'll begin to feel more hopeful.

Part of connecting to hope is believing that there's something inherently good and benevolent about life and human beings. Be an example of that compassionate force in your interactions with others, when you can, and watch compassion spread.

Keeping yourself safe, standing up for what you believe in, and maintaining healthy boundaries are nonnegotiable aspects of a self-love practice. So, as you honor those important values, also see how compassionate you can be in everyday interactions with folks at home, at work, and out in the world.

If you're having trouble connecting to hope, odds are some people around you are too—either because of challenging circumstances or their own mental health struggles.

Give yourself a wider net when fishing for a positive result. Getting too fixated on a certain scenario happening or getting too specific about how things might improve in the future can set you up for disappointment when details don't go exactly to plan, which they rarely do.

Being attached to a single outcome happening can also make you miss a golden opportunity when it appears because it comes at a time or in a manner you're not expecting.

You could have a friend who's been through a long period of barely getting by financially or struggling to manage a chronic health issue.

If the moment feels right, you might grab their hand and share, "I just want you to know, I'm always holding out hope this changes for you soon." That could help your friend stay connected to hope, and who knows how that might help their mental state or even action steps.

If you're feeling down or just blah and unenthused, be gentle with yourself. Pretending to feel something you don't can be self-punishing, which is the opposite of self-love, and can even make challenging feelings bigger to get your attention.

On some days it might be better or easier to connect with hope than on other days. Wait for an opening, like when you notice something positive happening to a loved one or when you wake up one morning feeling less worried or more motivated than usual.