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From The Counseling Center: Hope in a Time of Conflict

Pictured: Lynn Evansohn
 
By Lynn Evansohn, L.C.S.W.
 
Oct. 16, 2024: We live today in turbulent times and rapidly changing times. It can be difficult to feel secure and grounded in a world divided, confused and all too often fearful. How do we find the motivation and resilience to address the many conflicts which face us?  How do we continue to face the conflicts reported on the front page on a daily basis? 
 
One way is with the power of hope.  A formidable force.  But what does hope actually mean?  Vaclav Havel, the Soviet dissident who became the president of a democratic Czech Republic says: “Hope isn’t optimism which expects things to turn out well, but the belief that there is still good worth working for.”
 
Hope does not provide assurances but it does help in Finding strength and direction in adversity. 
 
Whether we are challenged with conflict in a relationship or workplace or considering the social or political conflicts of our times, hope allows for possibility just as crisis allows for opportunity and vital new ways for growth and resolution.  This may take the form of a child challenging parental authority, a boss reviewing one’s work poorly or a nation unsupportive of one’s values.  To be human is to experience conflict. How we handle conflict, loss and disappointment informs the changes we make. 
 
The historian Howard Zinn comments ‘Human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, courage and kindness.  What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives’.  Our individual hope not only supports our personal choices but engages people to have collective hope.  To collaborate in our shared values and endeavors to care for the world.
 
Addressing conflict can feel overwhelming.  Each of us as individuals can start with small steps.  Every step has value and meaning.  Whether we choose to reach out to an estranged relative, engage in environmental activism, choose to work with refugees or devote time to the understanding of a particular conflict, we are making the choice to improve not only our own lives, but those of others.
 
Excerpt from ‘For Love in a Time of Conflict’ by John O’Donohue
 
When no true word can be said, or heard,
And you mirror each other in the script of hurt,
When even the silence has become raw and torn,
May you hear again an echo of your first music.

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