Sailing through seas of despair

Keeping hope alive while navigating seas of despair and the crushing currents of hopelessness, meaninglessness, and powerlessness.

In life, we often find ourselves navigating the turbulent waters of fear and despair. The crushing currents of hopelessness, powerlessness, and meaninglessness can make it challenging to stay afloat.

While sailing through seas of despair, our navigation can be made easier by building our confidence and finding coherence. This is not easy to do. It takes time. It takes courage. It takes compassion. And it takes practice.

Sourcing our own hope

Life is heavy for those who move through it under a cloud of hopelessness. It can be hard to keep the faith and find hope for those who have not had a hope-filled upbringing. For those who are accustomed to managing the large currents of life, one may come to expect disappointment and be too familiar with fear. While we do not always choose the hand we are dealt, we can source our own empowerment and remember to look for hidden sources of hope.

When we feel powerless and adrift, it can be hard to remember our tools and take empowered action. Powerlessness can feel overwhelming, especially when that powerlessness stems from not having enough choice and control. When we feel powerless, it can be hard to source our own meaning and hope.

Finding meaning

Life feels more manageable when we have direction. We build our confidence to sail through treacherous waters when we have support and guidance in doing so. A lighthouse has a dual purpose; to guide ships away from dangerous shorelines and to mark the way when they hope to find land. Building meaning into our lives serves the same dual purpose. It helps us meet ourselves and it keeps us from becoming a version of ourselves we don’t recognize or wish to become.

Though it is a subjective journey, finding meaning in our lives helps connect us to the world around us. It helps us know ourselves so we can know each other. It gives us a map for when things appear senseless and meaningless. Sourcing our own meaning is a lifelong process of self-discovery. It is helpful to be open to the exploration, embrace moments of growth, and allow yourself the freedom to adapt and redefine what brings meaning to your life.

Rediscovering our purpose

When life feels this way, it can be helpful to rediscover our sense of purpose. Remembering our core values and finding meaning in who we are and what we do brings us a sense of fulfillment. It’s a tough spot to be in, but we are capable of moving through it.

Finding our purpose means asking ourselves the tough questions:

Who am I?
What do I stand for?
What do I do with my free time?
What kind of impact do I want to have on others around me?
What passions and interests make me lose track of time?
When do I feel the most alive?

Sailing onwards

I recently came across some new research on hope-finding. The researchers, Colla et al. (2022), expand on the concept of Hope Theory (Snyder, 2002). When it comes to goal setting and achievement, it can be first helpful to identify what you hope for. What goal do you have hope for? From there, it can be helpful to identify these four core components of hope-finding: Willpower, Whypower. Waypower, and Wepower.

Willpower is about sourcing the strategies you will use to stay empowered, motivated, and determined to continue with the goal. What will you do to keep hope alive?

Whypower involves the important task of identifying why this goal is important to you. Why do you want this?

Waypower is about breaking down your goal into steps to find your way. What pathway will you take to achieve this goal?

Wepower involves identifying who you will tap into as a form of social support when goal achievement gets tough. What relationships and social resources will help you achieve your goal?

Though we do not control the waves, we can practice how to better know ourselves with each new wave and new challenge we face. Every new wave is a new opportunity to sail onwards and overcome our biggest worries about what we’re truly capable of.

We sail onwards,

Jake