Finding Flourishing is a fresh and biblical take on the popular theme of wellbeing by BRF Ministries’ exciting new author, Naomi Aidoo. Publishing on 19 July, this is the second of two edited extracts.
17 July 2024
The Wheel of Life
At the beginning of a coaching programme with a new client or group, I use a well-known tool called ‘The Wheel of Life’ in order to assess and understand where a person is at currently, both in their life and their work. This tool asks people to rank their emotions and current experience according to a particular theme. There are many different variations of ‘The Wheel of Life’, and it’s typically up to the practitioner to decide which themes they want their clients to explore based on the nature of the coaching experience they’re facilitating for them. As ‘work–life wellbeing’ is the typical foundation for my coaching, one of the eight themes I explore through the use of ‘The Wheel of Life’ is hope.
I have found the presence of the notion of hope in these sessions to be hugely impactful. It’s the theme which is undoubtedly most commented on and typically explored to the greatest extent. People are intrigued by and invested in hope.
Hope has a wide range of definitions and, depending on what circles you move in, can get both good and bad press. Hope is paramount to wellbeing because without it we can find ourselves despairing, which, in the long run, does nothing for anyone. If we, individually or collectively, want to get somewhere or accomplish something, hope is fundamental to us doing so, because sometimes it will feel like we want to give up.
If we want to get somewhere or accomplish something, hope is fundamental to us doing so.
Health, hope and happiness…
One way I like to describe wellbeing is as ‘holistic health, hope and happiness, which reflects and acts on the past, present and future’. This idea, and the use of the word ‘hope’ within it, has been shaped and moulded as I’ve worked with clients. Even an acknowledgement that there’s hope for the future in the midst of otherwise difficult times can be enough to mobilise action and motivate change.
American writer and politician Clare Boothe Luce (1903–87) said: ‘There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.’ This is a quote I profoundly resonate with in light of the importance of hope and its connectedness to wellbeing. If our wellbeing is much more dependent on our source than it is on our circumstances, hope is of the utmost importance. However, perhaps surprisingly, hope is of huge value and importance in and of itself too.
Clare Boothe Luce said: ‘There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.’
Digging deeper
As a Christian, my hope is undoubtedly rooted in Jesus and the sure foundation that a life in him provides. This isn’t dependent on my circumstances, but it also doesn’t ignore the fact that some circumstances can be hard, even devastating. Jesus doesn’t overlook this at any point either.
In John’s gospel, Jesus says: ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’ (John 10:10). Jesus’ desire and intention is abundant life for us today. But how can this be possible when even the most privileged of people don’t live a life devoid of problems? More significantly, how can this be possible when so many across the globe face war, famine, poverty and worse? Some of this will be answered in the aforementioned verse. Death and destruction were never part of God’s will; they’re very much the plan and attack of the enemy. However, these things are also not a shock to God. He’s not taken aback by horrific circumstances. Also in John’s gospel, Jesus says: ‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’ (16:33). Trouble in this life is promised, and yet it seems as though life to the full is also. We’d be forgiven for thinking that this doesn’t add up.
This is where faith and hope are of such significance.
Hope doesn’t ignore the fact that some circumstances can be hard, even devastating. Jesus doesn’t overlook this at any point either.
Why hope?
In a world where wellbeing can take on different forms, hope offers an underpinning. Many business gurus will say that ‘hope isn’t a strategy’. They stand in good company. Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying that ‘he who lives upon hope will die fasting’. My belief is that while hope may not be a strategy, it is a standpoint. It is a declaration of sorts and a line in the sand which affords the person who dares to hold on to it a freedom which other areas of wellbeing don’t necessarily provide. Hope suggests a holding on in spite of circumstances, a willingness to keep trying – even if the trying is simply believing that things can be better than they currently are.
This disposition is vital. Not only does it ground the one who carries it, but it sends a clear message to those who want that carrier to give up and submit to hopelessness. The hopeful disposition digs its heels in and tells everyone who gets within sniffing distance of it that it’s not going to be moved.
The truth is, hope doesn’t always get the best press. Those who are hopeful have sometimes been viewed as ‘head in the clouds’ types who don’t have a firm grasp on reality. This, however, couldn’t be further from the truth. Many psychologists now believe that hope is a key component in truly understanding human flourishing. From a faith perspective, scholars and thinkers in the church have been studying hope for centuries. For example, Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest theologians of the medieval period, defined hope as ‘a theological virtue by which man, relying on God’s strength, seeks an arduous but possible good’.
Those who are hopeful have sometimes been viewed as ‘head in the clouds’ types. This, however, couldn’t be further from the truth.
Thinking hope
The link between science and hope may not seem obvious. However, the more we learn about hope, the more it will confirm to us that we can do a whole lot more with it than we can without it. And hope is important not only for our doing, but also for our being. The Oxford Handbook of Hope states: ‘Hope is positively related to experiences of positive emotion and psychological health and inversely associated with experiences of negative emotion and psycho-pathology.’
There is an increasing body of research and work which demonstrates the benefits of hope not only on our wellbeing, but also on our overall mental health, not to mention our academic and physical achievements.
There is, however, an element of our own agency that comes into play when it comes to hope benefiting our wellbeing and beyond. As clichéd as the ‘glass half empty or glass half full’ analogy is, there is something significant about it.
Harnessing agency
People referred to in certain texts as ‘high-hope individuals’ maintain a positive disposition towards their goals, focusing on the possibilities of success as opposed to the alternative possibility of failure as they approach them. The good news here is that these high-hope individuals haven’t simply lucked out with this disposition, but rather they harness agency in the pursuit of their goals; for example, by more readily asking for help or drawing on alternative resources. These are habits and traits which can be developed and then go on to cultivate more hope, further indicating that hope is a renewable resource.
Hope isn’t passive. Hope isn’t simply an acknowledgement of who God is while we wait for him to prove us right. Rather, it’s an active stance.
Hope waits. Once we’ve cried out and done all that we can from our own very human and frail position, we remind ourselves that God’s timeline does not look the same as ours. We wait for him to act from a disposition of hope and faith that he is who he says he is and who we believe him to be.
