“Every wise and graceful life I’ve encountered is a life marked by hope”
~ Krista Tippett
In her Aspen Ideas session with Jason Reynolds called “Hope is a Muscle,” On Being podcast host Krista Tippett said that hope requires imagination because it represents an insistence that the world does not have to be this way.
I too am convinced of the deep connection between hope and imagination. If we can paint a vivid picture (think 3D movie rather than pencil sketch on a napkin) of the future we want, we are more likely to create it.
But hope science teaches that hope also requires mental flexibility — a conviction that there are multiple pathways to reach that desired future. And we need enough mojo and agency and resources to move along at least one of those pathways toward it.
Tippett went on to suggest that hope cannot coexist with fear. I don’t think that’s true. She also suggested that because hope is a virtue, it’s not to be carried alone. That I think is true.
Why might all of this matter, in the practical details of our daily lives?
One reason is because hope is the most powerful determinant of our adaptability. Sit with that a moment. It’s more powerful than our grit or our team support or our resilience or any of the other components of adaptability, according to the data science underpinning the Adaptability Quotient assessment. And I don’t need to tell you how important adaptability is these days.
It’s also a learnable skill. As Tippett said, “hope is a muscle” — it gets stronger with use.
Being hopeful doesn’t require believing in rainbows and unicorns. It requires believing that the best is yet to come. Then actively working to make it so.