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Sometimes it’s easy to lose hope

3 ways to fight to keep it.


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Joel Sigrist

2 years ago | 2 min read

Our world fights against hope and positivity. The news is negative, social media is just the highlights from angry people, the world is burning up, corporations are evil, politicians are corrupt, the pandemic won’t end, and families are falling apart.

There’s a lot of money in keeping us upset. The news, social media outlets, cable networks that need the news to survive, social justice performers like Bo Burnham, self help writers and creators, and even a lot of the influencers we feel like we know. Their profit is directly correlated with our frustration and unhappiness.

If we’re happy, we don’t need self help. We don’t need to stay as up to date on the news. We don’t need to watch influencers all the time to escape. We don’t need to escape.

It’s been a tough week for me. My work is in a transitional space, and I’m struggling to find how to ramp and contribute at the same time. I’m not sleeping enough, and I’m dehydrated. On top of that, there’s a lot of smoke in my valley. Our AQI was 168 last night when I went to bed, and I haven’t checked it this morning yet.

It’s easy to lose hope in life. There are a million factors keeping all of us down, but we need to keep hope.

I am more resilient than I feel like I am. You are, too. We may not be invincible, but we’re pretty close. Look at the things you’ve made it through before, you can do that and more again in the future and come out on the other side stronger.

But we need to do our own work to stay positive and hopeful. Part of it is a mindset, but there are actions we can take to help us adopt that mindset.

  1. Take care of your inputs. Curate your social media feeds more. Unfollow accounts that only post things that upset you. Unfollow accounts you don’t care about. I promise, they’ll be okay without your follow. This doesn’t mean you hate anyone, it just means you’re prioritizing yourself on socials.
  2. Take care of your body. Exercise, go to the gym, go for a run or a walk every day, lift heavy things, drink a lot of water (1/2 oz per lb you weigh.). Eat less fast food, East less sugars. This isn’t a diet, just make sure you get some vegetables and less sugary foods.
  3. Take care of your mind. Do some meditation, read a book, decrease your screen time. Whether you use Headspace, Balance, or free YouTube meditations, give yourself some space for your mind to wander and relax. Read about history, culture, or just dive into a story.

Your life is your own. That’s hopeful. You have the autonomy to consume what you want, create what you want, spend time with who you want, and do what you want. There are limits for everything, but the options and choices are your own.

We need to embrace that and live into it. Live into your values, live into your loves, find ways to be hopeful, encourage yourself, and take care of your life. It’s the only one you get.

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Joel Sigrist

Joel Sigrist is a writer, sports analyst, and media creator exploring several fields. Visit Joel’s website joelsigrist.com to find out more.


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