Hope is a Practice by Julie Veloz

Today I am featuring a guest post from a colleague at our agency, Ketchum. In one of the first meetings with Julie, we got talking about being eternal optimists and she said the phrase, “hope is a practice.” I was so struck by the uplifting nature of the thought that I asked her if she would write about it here. She graciously said yes and I am so pleased to present …

Hope is a Practice by Julie Veloz

Things that can be hard: life, love, work, parenting, navigating mental health, finances, not eating that leftover Halloween Candy… wait, wait, wait a second, isn't this supposed to be uplifting? YES! We will get there, I promise.

The term practice makes perfect is what you have heard, but let's change it up a bit and say Practice Makes Growth; daily, humans around the world take time to practice a craft, a sport, or a hobby, but few wake up and practice Hope. Hope it is not something you have or don't have; it is not toxic positivity or thinking that everything will be OK when things are not.

Hope is a lighthouse in the dark night; it helps us traverse through murky waters, acknowledging sadness, suffering, and hurt, but knowing that as long as we keep looking towards that lighthouse signaling that help is here and constant, we will get to shore, and we will practice Hope another day.

You may be wondering, Julie, what does this look like? To practice Hope, I assume life with positive intent; I am kind, curious, grateful, and most importantly, I have a deep belief that humans are good, and for those that aren't, I leave that to the Higher Power. Hope drives new ways of being, ideas, and innovation. It is not just about practicing it for yourself but also practicing it outwards in every aspect of your life. When you practice Hope others will join you in it like a cool catchy song, we all want to sing together.

Hope allows you not to be stagnant, and as a leader, hope is a tremendous superpower that does not allow you to sit idle and accept the ending credits. Hope allows you to hang on to the long game, even when the short game seems dark and bleak. Even if the ending credits are the reality, Hope allows you to be resilient and take into account that moments... even the dark ones will always leave us with the gift of growth.

Hope is a verb defined by the Oxford Dictionary as "to want something to happen AND think that it is possible." Based on that, you must practice Hope, and once you become a master of it, you will live a life where you have control to make your desired outcomes a reality.  Lastly. I will leave you with this simple math equation to decode Hope.

GOALS+PATH+WILLPOWER+DISCIPLINE= HOPE.