I’m a word person.

I always have been.

I used to grab a thesaurus and look up synonyms and antonyms just for fun. I know. A little strange. But I’ve always been fascinated by the way a single word can carry so much meaning.

And every once in a while, a word seems to keep finding me.

You know that feeling?

You hear the same song several times. Notice the same phrase everywhere. See something come up over and over until you start wondering if maybe you’re supposed to pay attention.

Recently, that word has been:

Hope.

So, naturally, I started thinking about what hope really means.

Hope Gives Us Something to Move Toward

When we think about hope, we often think about longing, dreaming, wishing, or believing that something good is possible.

Some of the words connected to hope are beautiful:

• Anticipation

• Aspiration

• Desire

• Expectation

• Faith

• Optimism

• Promise

• Wish

• Reverie

And yes, I still think reverie is a beautiful word.

But what struck me most wasn’t simply the definition of hope.

It was what hope does.

Hope gives us something to move toward.

When we have hope, we can imagine a future that is different from the present.

We can picture something we want to create, become, repair, learn, or experience.

And that matters enormously for kids.

Kids Need to Hear Us Talk About What Is Possible

We spend a lot of time helping children understand what they should do right now.

Finish your homework.

Clean your room.

Be kind to your brother.

Try again.

And those things matter.

But children also need opportunities to think beyond today.

They need to wonder:

What am I excited about?

What do I want to learn?

What could I become better at?

What do I hope happens next?

What kind of person do I want to become?

Hope stretches a child’s thinking beyond the immediate moment.

It reminds them that their story is still being written.

We Have to Model Hope, Too

It isn’t enough to tell kids to have hope.

They need to see what hope looks like.

That means letting them hear us talk about things we are looking forward to.

Letting them see us set goals.

Sharing something we are working toward.

And perhaps most importantly, allowing them to watch us keep going when progress is slow.

Because hope isn’t just excitement about the dream.

Hope can become the fuel that helps us keep moving toward it.

Our kids need to see that part too.

They need to see that hoping for something doesn’t mean it will come easily.

Sometimes it means trying again.

Sometimes it means changing the plan.

Sometimes it means being disappointed and deciding the dream is still worth pursuing.

Hope Matters When the World Feels Heavy

There are plenty of reasons to feel discouraged.

A few minutes watching the news or scrolling through social media can leave us thinking:

What is happening?

Why does everything feel so difficult?

What kind of world are our kids growing up in?

Those feelings are real.

But I also believe parents, teachers, caregivers, and leaders have enormous influence over the emotional climate children experience every day.

Our words matter.

The stories we tell matter.

The future we help children imagine matters.

We cannot protect kids from every hard thing happening in the world.

But we can help them believe that hard things are not the only things happening in the world.

We can talk about people helping.

People creating.

People learning.

People repairing.

People making things better.

And we can invite children to see themselves as part of that story.

Make Hope Part of the Conversation

Try asking something other than:

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Ask:

What are you hoping happens this week?

What is something you really want to learn this year?

What is one thing you wish you could change?

What is something you’re excited about?

What do you hope your life looks like someday?

And then share your answers too.

Let your kids hear you dream.

Let them see you anticipate something good.

Let them watch you work toward something that matters to you.

Because hope is more than a nice idea.

Hope teaches children that the future is not finished yet and that they can have a role in shaping what comes next.