FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Hope and Gratitude

In these difficult and turbulent times it is important to develop our capacity for hope as this is the state of mind that helps you navigate life’s twists or turns and motivates you to move forward when times are rough.  

Hope becomes reality when you set appropriate goals and monitor your progress. People with hope have the will, the pathways and strategies necessary to achieve their goals. They recognise that they have agency, an ability to shape what happens in the everyday.  Hope is a belief your future will be better than the present, plus a belief that you can make it so. Hope is the state of mind that helps you navigate life’s twists or turns and motivates you to move forward when times are rough.

Hope is an attribute that can be measured and increased. The research has shown that those who score higher on the hope scale:

·         Cope better with injuries and pain

·         Score higher in satisfaction, self-esteem and               optimism

·         Perform better in sport 

·         Excel in academics

Hopeful thinkers experience more happiness, achieve and accomplish more and are physically and psychologically healthier.

In parallel, cultivating an attitude of gratitude has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression and higher long term satisfaction. It leads to optimistic futures. The more you are thankful, the more you have to be thankful for.

Be grateful for your chances, experiences  and opportunities, for your education, your learning, the people with whom you have come in contact, those who went out of their way for you, the teachers, family and friends who recognised your abilities and  accepted you as an individual. Be thankful that you can make a unique contribution and effect change.

Be grateful for all that life brings and build your capacity for hope which is so necessary to sustain you in difficult times. Remember with each new day, each sunrise brings with it renewed hope.

Rely on the cornerstones of hope and gratitude, the two essential pillars on which to build a positive and fulfilled life.

Clare Entwisle