The Victory of Hope over Uncertainty By Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP, FRCP

By Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP, FRCP

At the present moment life's uncertainties seem to be exaggerated. The strategies that people hit upon when they can't predict the future are often self-defeating. They include worry, complaint, blame, and pessimism. But dealing with uncertainty is a major challenge that some people meet with hope and resilience. Such an attitude needs to be developed if you want to feel safe and move forward despite the ups and downs the future will bring, and inspiring hope in others is essential if you want to improve their situation.

What does it mean to have hope? We all pay lip service with sentiments like "I hope it all works out," but this is often just a way of backing away and disengaging when we don't know what else to do. Real hope comes from a deeper source, the core of the self. At your core some important qualities determine how much hope you feel and can offer to others.

The primary qualities of hope are strength, resilience, and optimism. Strength enables you to call upon your own personal power. And to feel secure that this power is real. Resilience means that you can bounce back from disruptions and setbacks. Optimism radiates hope for the future. As you can see, these qualities are the opposite of worry, complaint, and pessimism. Instead of being self-defeating, these deeper qualities enhance one's self-esteem. If you are strong, resilient, and optimistic enough, you can also lift others out of their self-defeating attitude.

Hope is needed in a crisis, of course, but it should serve as a core value every day. Uncertain times can be on a national or global scale that feels overwhelming, yet uncertainty is present as a fact of life. The only control you have comes from within, where you choose how to perceive the world. Nor does the situation have to be negative—at your core, you know that every moment is open-ended, full of possibilities waiting to be brought to life.

Let's look a little closer at the qualities of hope and how to develop them as a creative opening no matter what is happening "out there."

Strength: Most people are far too willing to give away their power, and nothing is more hopeless than being powerless. Keeping your power means that you stand up for yourself, feel secure that you can overcome resistance, and find an opportunity beneath the surface where problems dominate. Too often, however, the image that comes to mind when we think of personal strength is of ruthless egotism and hard-driving competitiveness, along with the ability to step over other people and crush rivals.

Real strength is actually founded on a core of quiet calm; it's the still point that isn't disturbed by the rise and fall of events and the turbulence of emotions. There is no need for external bluster and ruthless competitiveness This comes as good news, because few of us are really cut out to be ruthless. By finding inner strength, you...