#ExploreElul 16: Hope

Today’s topic is Hope.

Hope can sometimes seem beyond the world of science, living only in abstract concepts, but Dr. Charles Richard Snyder, a positive psychologist, researched hope. His Hope Theory says that hope is buoyed by two main pillars, 1) agency: feeling able to reach one’s goals, and 2) pathways: having plans for how to reach one’s goals. Snyder also found that higher feelings of hope correlated with stronger performance in many areas, including athletics, academics, and personal growth, as well as being one of the strongest predictors of overcoming negative experiences. 

As we think ahead, Hope Theory gives us some food for thought. In this year, how can we manifest hope by growing our sense of agency and planning steps along the way until we reach our goals.