Cancer And Hope-mongering

When you are starring down the barrel of a gun then it might seem crazy that there might be any hope.

But who said the gun was loaded?

If it is loaded, it could get jammed or the user might spare you!

I have always been a hope-monger.

When I was told I had just 2 months to live then I clung onto hope like there was no tomorrow….because there might not have been.

But I believed there would be.

And, remarkably there was.

A hopemonger is a specialist seller of optimism, a merchant of mirth, a trader of tenacity.

Belief is the sister of hope and people with hope have the willpower to keep believing. To hope is to believe that something positive will materialise.

Hope is psychological capital that you invest in. You invest hope in your future. Hope allows you to transcend your current situation and offers you a better sense of well-being.

I’m not a doom-monger, it’s too stressful.

If the world looks irremediably dark then it will be – give ’em enough rope and they’ll hang themselves.

I’m more of a give ’em enough hope and they’ll save themselves sort of chap.

I’d rather filter the world through the prism of hope and look for the positives and possibilities through active living. It is both an experience and an action.

Hope is realistic too as we choose to focus on the possibility of attaining what we desire while acknowledging that it might not happen. It is however, an important ingredient of living a fulfilled life. Hope is an inner power we can direct forward towards and enrich who we are.

Hope-mongering is something I have made a habit of over many years and it does require a fair bit of work to keep at it and keep it going. But, I’m probably in the headspace now where it is ‘second nature’ to go mining for it and finding gold now and again.

You have to manufacture hope in the sense that you have to keep producing a vision of the future where you are in it!

This ‘future-casting’ is important because you are positively framing what is coming and you play a starring role! It helps us to maintain our dignity, our self-respect and our self-esteem.

To have hope, you have to act like you have it. Keep doing that and you will have it. Hope always requires  conscious cognitive effort so it is an active and constructive process.

You activate and sustain a more positive mindset for yourself which in turns leads to greater emotional and physical well-being. It feels good to have hope.

Being hopeful is not wishful thinking. It is a lifeline. We can all be rescued by hope and we can all be guardians of hope.

In ‘The Tattooed Man: Confessions of a Hopemonger‘, Herbert Kohl says

 – hope can be sold, it can be taught or at least spread, it can survive in the strangest and most unlikely places. It is a force that does not disappear.

Hope is always there but we don’t tend to call upon it unless something is going pear-shaped.

Cancer is certainly one of those ‘pears’.

Cancer damages you, it can make you hostile and you can withdraw from the world. It really jargogles your thinking.

But hope does not evaporate and we can access it anytime of the day.

It’s something that can really fuel a comeback. It can initiate a shift in your identity and worldview.

Stand on the balcony of hope and you’ll see a horizon of possibilities.

Hope can scoop us up, it can help us mentally reboot and it can grow a mentality of optimism and positivity despite the odds looking bleak. It is both a shield and a sword.

To be a hope-monger is to see the potential for things to get better even in the bleakest scenarios. When things get hairy, they ‘punk it out’. Hope a force for good and a great unifier. Hope is contagious!

There is always a glimmer of hope. There is always a kernel of hope. There is always a shred of hope. Live in hope, keep hope alive and always hold out hope. Get your hopes up!

Hope is an act of defiance and a refusal to accept the status quo. Hope-mongers are also ‘hopepunks’ and that means never rolling over when the odds are stacked sky-high.

Hope-mongers and hopepunks are force multipliers who weaponise their optimism and find a way no matter what.

A hope-monger is someone who is a champion and sustainer of hope, a harnesser of hope, a hopepunk as well as being:

1. a hope hurler
2. a hopesmith
3. a knight of hope
4. a hope plugger
5. a sponsor of hope
6. an upholder of hope
7. an agent of hope
8. a fighter of hope
9. a hope booster
10.  a hope hero
11. an ambassador of hope
12. a fat cat of hope
13. a hope defender
14. a hope hugger
15. a hope beaver

Other excellent suggestions for hope titles were received on a Twitter post and they include: Hope-a-Long Cassidy, Begetter of Hope, Broadcaster of Hope, Inspirer of Hope, Hope-Angel, Hope-asaurus Rex, Megaphone of Hope, a Haven of Hope, a Hopeful Hurricane, the Hope Diamond of Hope, A Hope Amplifier, Hope Giver, Hope Goblin, Hope Cat, Hope Doctor, Hope Honourer, Hope Hero, Hope Pope and Hope Spreader!

In a world where nothing is guaranteed, we are tasked with finding ways to overcome and move forward. Our circumstances can improve if we persist with hope.

Cancer can make you a fear-monger and fill you with hopelessness but I’m having none of that.

Hope-mongering is a much better option and motivates you to push back the despair. It is a necessary ingredient to help you get through the troughs and it is the motivation to stay in the game.

Hope is at the centre of our humanity and can fuel our spirit because it is a harbinger of greater things to come.

Becoming a monger of hope means you sell yourself a future. It can also help you maintain a consistently good mood.

I want to be here for as long as I can so I see it as my responsibility and duty to keep hope alive. It is part of my own mental health literacy and ‘rainbow thinking’.

This reminds me of the following:

L’arc en ciel fait naitre l’espoir – the rainbow gives birth to hope. It lifts our spirits and makes us think of what is possible.

One more thing…..

During a thunderstorm, think about the ‘Airline Pilot Maxim’: Do We Want Pessimism in the Cockpit?

That’s easy to answer – no we do not! We need our pilots to be confident, in control and with high hopes! The same applies to us too when we are going through our own personal thunderstorms.

We’ve all got to have high hopes because it is these that power us to go against the odds.

There are infinite possibilities of finding hope.