Choosing Hope in Difficult Times

Question: The world feels heavy lately. How do you hold onto hope when everything seems so bleak?

Response:
Hope can feel elusive in hard times. I don’t have a perfect answer, but what keeps me going is the idea that hope isn’t something you find—it’s something you create.

In my darkest moments, I’ve turned to stories—stories of people who faced unimaginable hardship and still found a way to keep going. Viktor Frankl, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Anne Frank, even my own grandmother. Their resilience reminds me that no matter how dark it gets, there’s always a flicker of light if you’re willing to look for it.

Now, hope isn’t about blind optimism. It’s about choosing to believe in possibilities, even when the odds are stacked against you.

It’s in the small acts—reaching out to a friend, planting a tree, writing a book. Those things don’t fix the world overnight, but they plant seeds for a better one.

Hope is a choice, not a feeling. And some days, it’s the bravest choice you can make.