Cultivate a clear vision or purpose, then take intelligent, skillful steps in the present moment, acting with integrity while releasing attachment to specific outcomes.
To hope effectively and avoid disappointment, practice detaching from specific results or outcomes, understanding that fixation can lead to suffering.
Use meditation to learn to let go of striving for goals and instead relax, settle into, and show up fully for whatever is happening in the present moment.
Develop a strong relationship with your inner life, acknowledging feelings and needs, and learn to be your own best friend to feel supported even in solitude.
Practice practical hope by simultaneously acknowledging and processing difficulties while actively working to nourish and uplift your heart.
Prioritize creating personal, social, and collective circumstances where you feel safe enough to reduce hypervigilance and address immediate threats.
If feeling overwhelmed or ‘drowning’ in difficult circumstances, prioritize addressing the most immediate harm and pressing concerns before attempting to navigate towards a better future.
Do not be alone with terror or other overwhelming emotions; reach out, connect with others, be honest about your feelings, and learn to metabolize them rather than suppressing them.
Create space in your communities and relationships to acknowledge and collectively process grief and mourning for losses, including ecological devastation, as a fundamental human need.
Acknowledge that hardship and difficulty exist, then focus on changing how you relate to suffering, as this shift can cause aspects of that suffering to cease.
Increase awareness through practice, recognizing that as it strengthens, it can become a wise, supportive companion, helping you handle experiences without feeling alone.
Cultivate awareness to gain a broader perspective on life’s events, recognizing you are conscious within them, which provides inner ground, balance, and perspective.
Actively strengthen wholesome mind states like empathy, kindness, generosity, compassion, and forgiveness through meditation and daily practice.
Play an active role in shaping your inner atmosphere by practicing daily gratitude, a reliable way to uplift the heart and bring more joy and well-being into your life.
Seek out and appreciate moments of beauty, pleasure, and nourishment in daily life, ’taking in the good’ for at least 20 seconds to allow your neurology to receive its benefits.
Consciously notice and appreciate simple, everyday pleasures like clean water, food, shelter, or a friendly smile, recognizing their profound nourishing value.
Engage in acts of generosity and service, both internally (e.g., loving-kindness meditation) and externally (e.g., reaching out to a struggling friend), to connect with your own goodness and uplift your heart.
Take responsibility for your mental and emotional well-being by consciously managing how you think, where you place your attention, and the habits of thought and mood you actively pursue.
Recognize that while actions have effects and change is possible, you don’t control the outcome; therefore, ensure every choice you make aligns with your values and what you want to bring into the world.
Conduct an honest and grounded assessment of your internal capacities and external resources to ensure you can respond effectively to challenges and opportunities.
Actively maintain your inner ecosystem to cultivate a sense of ‘okayness’ in the present, which provides access to your intelligence, empathy, and energy for effective action.
Investigate in your own experience whether awareness and kindness (or love/friendliness) are interconnected or inseparable, holding it as an open question rather than seeking to confirm a thesis.
Foster curiosity and sincere interest in your inner and outer experience, as this approach will actively further your meditation practice and self-understanding.
Access new meditations in the 10% Happier app, including one from Oren, to hone your ‘hope chops’ and cultivate practical hope.
To learn more about Oren J. Sofer’s work, teaching, and writing, visit his website at oranjsofer.com.