Sundaymail Editor
CHANGE your attitude with these tips to help you hang on to hope in the new year.
I have noticed a pattern in people’s attitude about starting a new year.
The harder the previous year, the more they look forward to January 1.
It is like turning in a really bad English paper and getting to start over on a new assignment.
A blank page and a new year give us the one ingredient needed for healing, peace and success — hope.
The trick is sustaining that hope through the seasons of the year, especially on days when it is hard to believe that our tomorrow will be better than our today.
Here are some ways to hang on to hope in the new year.
- Visualise a new year’s you
Forget about your new year’s resolution. Only 8 percent keep them anyway. Instead, visualise the person you want to become, including as many details as possible. Visualisations are a powerful way of reprogramming our thoughts and accessing hope.
We learn through pictures.
- Plan a hope event
You might need a hope booster half-way through the year, so plan a retreat or some other event that will refuel you with optimism and energy. You need not trek across Europe for five weeks, of course.
A weekend by the lake or some time with a friend will serve the same purpose.
- Strengthen your spiritual life
Psalm 118:8 reads: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.” Like all relationships, though, our connection with God takes work. It requires a commitment to prayer, and opportunities to discern what God is saying.
The beginning of the year is a great time to design a spiritual practice that will help you recognise the divine imprints in your life.
- Find hope buddies
Friends and loved ones are messengers of hope. They shed light on our strengths in moments of weakness and provide perspective when we fail to see the truth.
Fellowship is how addicts are able to stay clean, a core component of 12-step groups that leads to long-term recovery.
Identify those people in your life who serve as your buttress and find ways to connect with them throughout the year. Keep them close.
- Carve out solitude
Novelist and Anglican clergyman Laurence Sterne once wrote: “In solitude, the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself.”
Being alone is not easy. It requires confronting the demons that stand in the way of Christian living.
However, only in the silence can we hear the whisper of truth that leads us to peace.
- Gather your hope reminders
Have symbols of hope and display them in places that you see every day. — Wires.
Online Reporter