New Year's and hope

Hope springs eternal. Hope for the best. Don't lose hope. A ray of hope. Keep hope alive. Hope against hope. All of us have uttered one of those phrases or similar ones amid adversity or the many challenges of life. We long for hope. I recently shared a message in an area church titled "Our Hope." I also did something I never thought I would do and will probably never do again as a part of that message. I sang a solo. To understand the significance of that, you need to know something about my family history. One of my grandfathers was a great musician and taught music at schools and churches around my hometown of Athens, Tennessee. My father was a music director in area Baptist churches for 40 years and sang in gospel quartets with my mother. My oldest sister was a great pianist and played in our church growing up, and my other sister had a beautiful solo voice. I was the black sheep of our musical family. I played sports year-round and had little interest in music. So why would I believe singing a solo was a good idea? A few people have told me over the years that I have a nice voice, but I chose to sing this solo because I thought the words of a particular song fit well with my message, and I believed it would have more impact if I just sang a verse. The song was "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand," and the line I wanted to emphasize in my message was "My hope is built on nothing less…" 1 Corinthians 13:13 says: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love." Paul is declaring that hope is one of the enduring keys to life. Sarah J. Maas said it well, "We need hope, or else we cannot endure." Hope enables us to navigate the most challenging and tragic moments while also providing the fuel that propels dreams. Research confirms the importance of being hopeful. Hopefulness increases our performance in the classroom, at work, and in athletics. People who are hopeful experience fewer chronic illnesses and have lower rates of mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Research reinforces Dostoyevsky's words: "To live without hope is to cease to live." New Year's Day is often a day we look back on the past year and celebrate outstanding accomplishments, extraordinary events, or blessings that came our way. It is also a moment for turning the page on tragic events, failures or ended relationships. Those chapters in our lives have been written, and each year we have the opportunity to turn the page and create a new story filled with hope. I am not talking about a sugar-coated narrative based on a Pollyanna view of life. It is necessary to recognize that our world presents challenges, tragedies, suffering, and evil rhetoric and actions that often accompany them. To choose hopefulness, we need to stay informed about the realities around us. It is crucial to find reliable news sources that provide facts about what is happening around us. Beware of people, social media, and talking heads who spread conspiracies, misinformation and hate. These sources promote fear and despair, not hope. Truthful information can lead us to constructive actions, whether prayer or activism, and to hopeful solutions for the challenges and opportunities we face. So how do we nurture hope in our lives? Let me share what I have observed in the most hopeful people I've known. First, they have high and reasonable expectations. If we never stretch ourselves, we will not be hopeful, because we will consistently fall short of what we know, down deep, is possible. So, it is important to set aspirational yet achievable goals. Then we can experience the incredible deep-down satisfaction of achieving something worthwhile. Dream big and dare to fail. This leads to the second critical factor in developing hopefulness: self-grace. What do I mean by self-grace? I mean, cutting yourself some slack when you fall short of achieving that challenging goal. Everyone fails, but the key to hopefulness is getting up and trying again. J.K. Rowling was a single mother on welfare when she submitted her first Harry Potter book to a publisher. That publisher and 11 others rejected her book before one finally published it. She has now sold 600 million copies of her Harry Potter series and is a billionaire. Don't give up on yourself. Another key to hopefulness is to spend as much time as possible doing the things you love. It may be sports, theater, arts and crafts, outdoor activities, reading, etc. It might not be someone else's cup of tea, but it is OK if it is morally right, legal, does not harm anyone, and brings you joy. Have fun! The final thing that fosters hopefulness is building healthy, mutually beneficial relationships. This might be with family, neighbors, church members, work colleagues, or friends at the YMCA or Senior Center. Surrounding ourselves with hopeful people who are encouraging and supportive makes it easier to find hope in the world. Build some bridges. As we approach New Year's and you turn the page on this year, I pray that your 2026 is filled with hope. Hopefulness is a choice, and I still see enough reasons to choose hope. I hope you do too. Rick Toomey, Ed.D., is a former minister, counselor, organizational development consultant, assistant professor, and university department chair for Organizational Development and Training. You can email him at ortoomey@gmail.com.