Theme Commentary

Hope is goal-oriented optimism. It is not self-deception, but a grounded orientation in the confidence that our actions matter. This type of hope inspires people to strive for a better future, even as they acknowledge present realities. This class sequence connects hope and action via rhythmic movement, breath, and thymus gland stimulation.

Mantras

Hope lives in the actions I take

Hope originates in the heart

Quotes

“Do not judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”— Robert Louis Stevenson

“Action is the antidote to despair.”— Joan Baez

“It’s not enough to believe in hope; you have to work for it.”— Bryan Stevenson (public interest lawyer)

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”— Mother Teresa

“Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.” —Barack Obama

A vision without a task is but a dream. A task without a vision is drudgery. A vision and a task are the hope of the world. — Inscription On A Church Wall In Sussex England C. 1730

“Optimism is the belief that things will get better. Hope is the faith that, together, we can make things better.”—Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, British Rabbi and Theologian (1948-2020)

Savasana

Meditation for Hope, from Brandon Epstein YouTube channel