Hey folks, it’s me Randy again, we’ve recently started a new project based on Hope. We just launched the big ideas, and are told about what the final product will look like. It will be a short video of us narrating a story of hope, to hopefully, inspire some people. During our launch phase, we studied the main ideas of this project. Which are: Adversity, Resilience, Survival, and Hope. They each seem like vocabularies that a grade 3 would know, except that they link very well together.

Knowing that our final product will be a story of hope, let’s discuss what makes a story hopeful.

Definitions:

what is a story of hope?

Hope is a powerful emotion that may inspire courage and guide you through the most difficult circumstances. It is the belief that better things are possible, even if the present seems bleak.

We often see it portrayed as the dramatic light source on the other side of a dark tunnel. There are many historical examples of stories of hope, which are told in various ways. These stories are the highlights of human resiliency, as well as our ability to overcome and adapt to adversity.

The story of hope can be traced back to ancient times when people looked up to the gods for guidance and optimism. In fact, most ethnicities have their own religions and “gods” to look up to. No matter how diverse the cultures are among humans, there’s always a superior being in our minds. Jesus, Buddha, Zeus, you name it. These religions have pros and cons; sometimes, people blindly believe in these imaginary figureheads and forget the core beliefs of these religions.

Religions also provide us with fundamental beliefs and an open sense of possibility. For instance, when people suffered famines or floods (Some verse in Exodus, can’t remember which one), their religions helped them through difficult times by allowing them to work together and providing them with emotional shelter. The Bible might not be real, but it offered Christians an open sense of possibility.

In modern times, the story of hope has been exemplified in significant human events, such as the civil movement in the United States, where Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech gave hope to the oppressed and marked a turning point in the fight for racial equality.

The story of hope does not necessarily involve life and death. It could be something small and personal. We have lived through arguably one of the greatest global adversity of all time, but we don’t even realize it. Of course, I’m talking about Covid-19, a virus that has influenced billions of people’s lives. This Covid-19 pandemic took the world by surprise, and brought a wave of fear and uncertainty to people’s lives. The elder’s were devastated, and many industries went bankrupt. As the news reported the number of cases exponentially increasing, people began to lose hope.

Even in the darkest time of humanity, there was still light, giving us courage to keep on going and believe that there is a better tomorrow. Finally in December of 2020, the Covid vaccine was launched in Canada. Slowly, we took off our masks, and began to live “normal” again. Up to today, there was only 57 deaths last week. With the scientist’s hard work, we have turned the table around, all of us worked together to rise above this global adversity.

I’m sure you have your own stories of how you dealt with Covid-19; the changes your communities had to make, and how your social life has become. A lot of people were depressed because they couldn’t go anywhere or socialize. Comment down below about your “Story of Hope”, so that maybe I can make a film about it. 👇👇👇

Connection to the driving question:

DQ: What lessons and inspiration can we draw from the stories of individuals and communities that have faced tragedy and overcome adversity?

The story of hope is also exemplified in individuals who overcome seemly insurmountable obstacles. Take, for example, Bethany Hamilton, a girl whose left arm was bitten off by a shark. She proceeded to become a professional surfer by overcoming and empowering her disability. Her story is later made into a movie, inspiring hundreds of thousands of people worldwide by demonstrating that even the greatest challenges can be overcome with perseverance and determination.

Furthermore, the story of hope is applicable on a personal level for each of us who faces challenges in our lives. Whether it is a health issue, financial hardship, or relationship difficulty, hope will always give us directions and lead us through the dark tunnel we are trapped in. It is a reminder that no matter how difficult the situation may seem at the moment, there is always a way forward.

In conclusion, the story of hope is about the universal legacy of the human spirit, which transcends time and culture. It is a reminder of the human spirit’s ability to rise above adversity and conquer even the toughest challenges. Hope is the light that leads us through misery, giving us the courage to keep moving forward and believe that there is a better tomorrow.