TULSA — Since day one of the coronavirus pandemic, 2 Works for You has been giving you stories of hope and inspiration.
Because when we face uncertainty, fear and anxiety can step in and erase all hope we might have.
Mike Brooks found an expert who has been studying hope for more than a decade.
Dr. Chan Hellman says hope is the belief that the future will be better, that it's not a wish, it's an action.
To find hope, you identify a goal, set a path to get there and find the willpower to take the first step.
And something we can all do right now is to start thinking about a short term goal that we have control over.
"So today, for instance, I might decide to go for a walk around the block, and so I will set a schedule and a time frame. That is a pathway by which to do that. I would actually start really small because what we've learned is hope begats hope. That is as we start to experience these successes our hope will start to emerge," says Dr. Hellman, the Executive Director at the Center for Hope Research at OU-Tulsa. "Because I like visuals, what I would recommend is maybe take your phone and find something that symbolizes a goal so that you have this visual of this thing that you are pursuing. You might be able to take another picture of a pathway, another picture of something that motivates you. It's not the power of positive thinking. It's about setting goals , finding pathways, and the willpower. Hope is about action."
Dr. Hellman says a easy goal you can set up every day is who are you going to connect with, so you don't become socially isolated.
And he says his method of taking a picture of a goal really works with children who might be feeling some anxiety.
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