Hope is a Skill
Spring has arrived. Vaccines are making their way into arms. But hope, for many of us, feels as slippery and fleeting as ever. That’s why Ten Percent Happier is launching a special two-week series, starting April 12, about hope: what it is, what it isn’t, and how and why to cultivate it.
When a lot of us hope, we hope for something: some particular outcome or result. Maybe we’re hoping for a raise or a promotion, or we’re hoping to find the perfect romantic relationship, or we’re hoping for things to go back to the way they were before the world shut down. Naturally, we become attached to these outcomes–and then we’re disappointed when they (inevitably) don’t work out exactly as we’d, well, hoped.
But there is a way to hope wisely.
And over two weeks in April, Ten Percent Happier going to teach you how. To do this, we’ve got an all-star slate of meditation teachers, mindfulness experts, and scientists lined up and ready to go on our podcast and in our app. Together, they make the case that hope is actually a skill. And since hope is a skill, we can get better at it.
Download the Ten Percent Happier app now to get ready and check out the resources below.
TEN PERCENT HAPPIER PODCAST
Starting on April 12, journalist and Ten Percent Happier co-founder Dan Harris speaks with scientists, experts, and other smart folks about how to cultivate hope. Check out our most recent podcast episode below!
LISTEN TO A TALK
Are you feeling more hopeful these days — and maybe a little afraid to feel hopeful? Jay Michaelson has your back.
Even with the pandemic beginning to abate, it can be hard to have hope these days. Sharon Salzberg has three tips that work.
TRY A MEDITATION
Want to give meditating a shot before April 12? Start with a very simple relaxation meditation that you can do anywhere, guided by teacher
TEN PERCENT WEEKLY
Original essays by our teachers on happiness, meditation, and the mindful life. Read our teachers’ reflections on hope below.
HOPE
Mindfulness has a few suggestions for how to enjoy, work with, and maybe learn from the experience of hope. Let’s look at three of them. Read more.
MAKING ROOM FOR HOPE
With vaccines becoming widespread, the present moment is pregnant with possibility.
How can we both embrace whatever comes up—the fear, the pain, the frustration, the love, the compassion—and at the same time generate hope and create a vision for the future? Read more.