What is hope?

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Hope is more than we give it credit for! Hope is not wishing. Wishing is when you want to win the lottery. Hope is not optimism. Optimism is envisioning a good day ahead. John Parsi, Executive Director of the Hope Center at ASU, says, “Optimistic people see the glass as half full, but hopeful people ask how they can fill the glass full.” Hopeful people set goals. Hopeful people figure out paths to reach goals. Hopeful people feel like they can actually do what it takes to achieve goals. 

Dr. Chan Hellman, Founding Director of the Hope Research Center, says, "Hope is the belief that your future can be brighter and better than your past and that you actually have a role to play in making it better." Knowing that you can actively play a part in making things better is the key difference between hoping and wishing. Hope is purposeful action.

Dr. Chan Hellman and Casey Gwinn authored a book entitled Hope Rising. Hope Rising states that, "In every published study of hope, every single one, hope is the single best predictor of well-being compared to any other measures of trauma recovery. This finding is consistently corroborated with other published studies from top universities." Dr. Hellman and Mr. Gwinn have stated that, "nothing is more predictive of well-being than hope." Hope is measurable, hope is clearly defined, and increased hope has powerful outcomes. 

We aim to build hope. Many people have experienced trauma, hardship, oppression, and systemic failure, yet journey in hope every single day. Powerful outcomes can happen if we all come together in purposeful action - collective hope. The Elpis Collective. Join us.