We’re more familiar with stories of hope than ever before in todays day in age. Fictional stories about individuals finding hope in times of peril, any animated Disney movie for example. However to understand the deeper meaning behind these stories, and their real life counterparts, it is vital to understand hope. Hope is a mechanism brought to light by specific traits and experiences. Adversity, resilience, and survival. Anyone can be hopeful on a whim, but it takes an individual or community who have faced adversity with resilience, and survived to truly have experienced hope to its full potential. It is the stories of these people that are the real stories of hope.
Adversity is no mere challenge. Getting caught in the rain, an unfortunate hiccup, but not adversity. Resilience in the face of a rainy day is a pair of dry socks. When formulating and understanding as to what adversity is, dancing around simple misfortunes is a common mistake. Opposed to a daily disruption or a weekly kerfuffle, adversity is life changing. A challenge that requires the utmost resilience to overcome, and from it you become a survivor. Often the most profound examples of adversity are found in near death experiences. Jasan Zimmerman, a victim of reoccurring cancer, faced death for the first time at 6 months old. His battle with cancer ensued for another 00 years. His experience with adversity allowed for a fresh take on life, post cancer, and after years of waiting for the cancer to return. With his new mindset, he escaped being a victim, and instead became a survivor. In the case of Edith Eva Eger, a holocaust survivor, the adversity is unfathomable, yet her resilience was her vessel towards survivorship, and her life after overcoming her adversity.
“What exactly is that quality of resilience that carries people through life?” Asks Diane Coutu as she breaks down that very quality. Edith Eva Eger describes her resilience as knowing that, “no one can take away from you what is in your own mind.” Something her mother told her on their way to Auschwitz in 1944. Her resilience was found within her experience and flourished from her will to survive. Coutu breaks down resilience a little differently. The resilience of an individual is in their ability to face reality bravely, find meaning wherever they look, and improvise with their bricolage. There is a reason people suggest you face adversity with resilience, although its easier said than done. There is no other way to overcome it. Resilience is dependant on experience, therefore when an individual has not yet faced any adversity and calls themself resilient, everything becomes a bit fluffy. These words lose their meaning. However when a truly resilient person, such as Bethany Hamilton, a young surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack, speaks about their experience with resilience, it becomes clear how difficult it is to possess.
Becoming a survivor is a rare and incredibly challenging thing to do. Survival itself can be looked at through multiple lenses. Biologically speaking, surviving is to be alive. Psychologically, surviving is more than just being alive, it is to be living. All very spiritual and metaphorical, I know. Like with Jasan Zimmerman, embracing your survivorship, rather than accepting victimization, or even victimizing yourself, is powerful and life altering. Bethany Hamilton is a prime example of survival, having almost died that day when her limb was ripped off by a tiger shark. Survival also creates an environment and mindset prepared for growth. After facing an adversity, embracing your resilience, and surviving, the next step is growing into who you have become. There are five assets for growth as a survivor. Relating to others, embracing new possibilities, igniting personal strength, feeling a spiritual change, and experiencing a new appreciation for life. Bethany had the support of her loved ones, religion, and community, post traumatic event. With that support, she embraced possibilities that were never before on her horizon. She found her strength in helping people, and quit victimizing herself with the help of a concept called “downward comparison”. By seeing people in worse conditions than her own, she embraced a new appreciation for life and reignited her passion for surfing. She is a story of hope. Jasan Zimmerman is a story of hope. Edith Eva Eger is a story of hope.
New York Times
These individuals act as examples of what forms a real life story of hope can take. Fiction can do a good job a representing these words and their true meanings. However it is difficult for a piece of fiction to able to compel people the way a real story can. A story of hope consists of an adversity, faced with resilience, ending in survival and growth. The reality of life, brutal as it can be, is what makes these stories so inspiring. To deeply understand hope is a privilege these survivors possess. That being said, anyone can be hopeful, but to be a story of hope requires finding hope for yourself, within yourself.
