MAKING MY PEACE … with the power of hope
When life feels like “all attempts have failed” and you’re losing ground and losing yourself or most or yourself, the story is not over yet. I was listening to Switchfoot’s song “Yet” from the 2009 Hello Hurricane album and felt an instant hit of hope. Particularly because the song “Yet” counters that impulse to think things are over with a stubborn refrain: “You haven’t lost me yet.” That single word – yet – means that it is not over. The phrase doesn’t deny that pain exits, but it does refuse to accept finality. It is the power of hope.
Yet by Switchfoot (2009)
All attempts have failed
All my heads are tails
She’s got teary eyes
I’ve got reasons why
I’m losing ground and gaining speed
I’ve lost myself or most of me
I’m headed for the final precipice
But you haven’t lost me yet
You haven’t lost me yet
I’ll sing until my heart caves in
No, you haven’t lost me yet
Songwriters: Jonathan Mark Foreman / Timothy David Foreman
Yet lyrics © Publishing Schmublishing Publishing
Source: Musixmatch
Drawing inspiration from the song “Yet” I know that hope isn’t hype. Hope is not toxic positivity. Hope is not denial. Hope is a habit. Hope is honest endurance. Hope is a sign or a signal. Hope is direction.
According to Songfacts, Switchfoot’s songwriter Jon Foreman describes hope as “holding on” and an expectant belief for what hasn’t arrived yet. Hope is telling the truth to yourself about the dark – your dark thoughts – and choosing one more step anyway. In the song, the narrator is confused and exhausted, but still singing. That combination of voice and vulnerability is powerful.
It is powerful because confidence doesn’t evaporate all at once; it erodes when setbacks become conclusions. For example, saying to yourself “I failed, therefore I am a failure” is a lack of confidence in that moment of time. Hope interrupts a potential slide downward, that sense of losing ground. Hope says: “I failed, but I am not finished yet. I can try again.” Over time, this “yet” mindset preserves a sense of capability and prevents the all-or-nothing thinking that often precedes low moods.
The song line, “I’ll sing until my heart caves in” is a way of acknowledging an inner resolve to take action to keep going. Even tiny actions, such as one message sent, one walk taken, one line written, signals to your brain that you are moving and that motion loosens the grip of rumination, stagnation, or procrastination.
Rumination (spinning thoughts) can drain confidence and energy. Small, repeated actions create micro-wins, restoring trust in yourself and nudging your mood upward to a more positive frame of mind.
The song continues:
If it doesn’t break your heart, it isn’t love
No, if it doesn’t break your heart, it’s not enough
It’s when your breaking down with your insides coming out
That’s when you find out what your heart is made of
And you haven’t lost me yet
No, you haven’t lost me yet
“If it doesn’t break your heart, it isn’t love” signifies that pain can be a sign that something matters, not proof that you’re broken. When hardship and hurting is linked to purpose, such as love, growth, or values, you gain stamina. Depression feeds on isolation and meaninglessness. Naming what your struggle is for (“I’m fighting for my family … my health … my art … my integrity” etc.) reconnects you to purpose, which is protection against hopelessness.
Hope doesn’t ask you to pretend. It asks you to persist. Hope asks you to “sing until your heart caves in” and then hum if that’s all you can manage. On days when confidence wanes, let the word “yet” be the thin golden thread that keeps you connected to yourself, to others, and to tomorrow. Instead of saying, “I haven’t done what I wanted to do” say “I haven’t done what I wanted to do yet.” That gives you room – hope – that you can and will do it.
You haven’t lost you yet. And we haven’t lost you, either.
***
Making my peace with the power of hope and the power of “yet”, I try to do the following:
Replace a negative with a word of hope: Instead of saying to myself “I can’t do this” I say “I can’t do this yet. Today I will do try to do …”
Adopt the NAME IT, NORMALIZE IT, AND NARROW IT approach: I name it, such as “I’m having intrusive thoughts.” I try to normalize it, such as by saying “people’s brains do this under stress” (i.e., not just my brain but other people’s brains too). I narrow it by saying “For the next 10 minutes, I’m only doing …”
Reach out: Hope grows in company. Connection is medicine, so I share one honest sentence with a trusted person, or in my journal, or in my social media post to my readers.
Repeat the mantra: I say to myself, repeatedly, “small moves change big moods” and “being slightly mobile is better than being stuck” and “my story is not finished yet” or simply “not yet, not yet.”
***
Rainy Day Healing blogs: “This kind of quiet, honest reflection is exactly what makes Rainy Day Healing such a special space.” Chaz. T., USA
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