Hope.

That bridge that connects the present to a more ideal world.

The idea that no obstacle is too big to overcome.

No situation too dire, to emerge victorious, and that you are never confined to how things are.

FDR has said, we have always held to hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life,

a better world beyond the horizon.

Why does this matter? Well, to put it simply, before one can leave this situation they are in,

they have to believe there is another path worth taking.

It's not always seeing, but trusting.

It's a tale of two components.

One, the belief that something better is out there, and two, the belief that you are strong

enough to bridge that gap to create that world.

So let's start with number one.

There was a study done by Kurt Richter in the 1950s, and he used rats.

And it was kind of a gruesome experiment, but definitely worth talking about because the takeaway is incredible.

Right? And I kind of cherry-picked the relevant parts of the experiment.

Basically, he wanted to delve into the role that hope plays in our lives.

And what he would do is he would drop rats into a jar of water and observe.

See how long they would swim before they drown.

And for the most part, these rats would swim for a minute or two and then ultimately give up.

There was this innate feeling of hopelessness.

But then he made a change and when they were close to drowning, he'd reach in, he'd pick them up, he'd hold them for a little while, and then he'd place them back in the water, and the results between the two groups were night and day.

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