Hope: a Superpower!

Feb 12, 2025

Si quieres leer o compartir este artículo en español.

At the beginning of each year, there is a kind of virtual reset—we long for things to change, to discover something new, to expect something better from ourselves and our circumstances. Perhaps without realizing it, what we truly desire is not for the world to change, but for our way of seeing, understanding, and acting within it to evolve for the better... When you change, the entire universe changes!

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.
Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
– Rumi (1207-1273)

There is no way around it: my perception of reality is deeply connected to my identity, just as my capacity for change is. I do not forge my identity in a vacuum—it is an intricate amalgamation of how others see me, the interpretation I have made of past circumstances, the culture that has nurtured me... countless factors I put together to shape my personal identity: WHO I AM!

Sometimes we resist changing that identity because “it has taken me too long to get here; I am not going to open myself up to change now.” And if things are ‘more or less okay,’ then “please, let’s not touch anything.” After all, “there are infinite ways things can go wrong… so it’s best to leave things as they are.” You may not always be fully conscious of this inner dialogue… but nothing is more uncertain and stressful for our identity than the unknown.

There is no such thing as standing still.

The Superpower of Hope

In the 1950s, Dr. Curt Richter conducted an experiment that would be impossible to fund or replicate today. He placed rats in a container filled with water, where they had to struggle to stay afloat. Within minutes, they would drown. After measuring the average time before the rats succumbed to despair and drowned, Dr. Richter would rescue a rat, dry it off, comfort it, and massage it. Then, a few minutes later, he would put it back into the water. – How long do you think the rat lasted before drowning this time? – Incredibly, the rats survived for up to 60 hours—almost three days—before once again losing hope of being rescued. (On the Phenomenon of Sudden Death in Animals and Man)

Hope emboldens me to keep moving forward despite my circumstances. It is a sort of internal generator of confidence and strength that allows me to endure whatever is necessary—because I know and expect that beyond the apparent adversity, there lies a solution to my dilemma.

Where Is This Superpower?

To answer this question, we must turn our attention to two complex realities that we all share, but which are not always obvious. One is validated by neuroscience, and the other—well, I warn you, it provokes skepticism.

The first is a recurring theme in our discussions: through our identity, we are the protagonist of a complex storytelling that constantly unfolds in our minds. We are goal-oriented, and our inner voice is continuously crafting a path toward that goal. This process defines where we are, what is is going on, and how to make sense of it all. It helps us reach our target and prevents the stress of the unknown from overwhelming us. Neuroscience and personal history intertwine to sustain this intricate reality, shaping our perception of who we are.

We are continuously weaving our identity, whether awake or asleep, designing an intricate and vital tapestry. This process operates beneath the surface of our will—it is as if our consciousness uses our life experiences to seek something beyond itself to fulfill our identity.

The reality that often breeds disbelief is this: we do not know where the elements that lure or impel us to act come from. We are like fish immersed in a reality we can hardly comprehend or discern with our five senses. Reality is a continuous spectrum that stretches from the extrasensory and ethereal to the sensory and corporeal. One undeniable truth is that there is a vast universe beyond our senses, one we attempt to grasp without truly knowing how, and from which an infinite number of elements emerge—elements that move us, motivate us, and drive us forward or hold us back. The immaterial animates the material... the spirit animates the body!

For the skeptics: we do not understand what Life is, or what consciousness is, or how they emerge, operate, or function (for that matter)… yet some people have the audacity to claim that the realm of the spirit does not exist and that only thing that is real is what we can sense with our senses. Moving forward, let me remind you of a simple fact: all human beings make decisions based on emotions, not logic or reasoning. Even if we did rely solely on reason, these deeply human elements—emotions, consciousness, intuition—are not material things we can measure, weigh, or place in a box.

In February 2024, I wrote an article titled "Reality is a Multi-Dimensional Canvas," in which I share an extraordinary firsthand experience (it is written in Spanish, but you can have Chrome translate it for you). In it, I explore the multi-dimensionality of reality and how countless elements and entities with intent and direction operate within it, influencing and affecting us.

"People do not have ideas; ideas have people."
– Carl Gustav Jung

Ultimately, these two aspects of our human reality intertwine: our passions, desires, and actions are driven and “inspired” by elements we do not fully understand. Meanwhile, we stumble forward, searching for the right narrative that will give meaning to our story, striving to forge our fulfilled identity. Throughout this journey, hope serves as the fuel that keeps us moving, helping us find meaning and direction without succumbing to cynicism.

The Rock Upon Which I Build My “Home”

In the 19th century, Karl Marx proposed that the meta-narrative driving all human motivations was power—that through this lens, we could understand the fluctuations of history and even interpersonal relationships. In the same century, Sigmund Freud suggested that the force propelling us from that ethereal realm was sex, and that everything in our lives was structured in order to attain it. These are powerful ideas that have shaped our culture for centuries; both illustrating that unconscious meta-objectives drive us, pressing certain immutable buttons they have shapped our actions to propel us forward or held us back.

One of the fundamental laws of reality is that everything is in constant flux; nothing remains unchanged for a reasonable period of time. In humans, it is this flux that drives our continious becoming in the quest for our identity. That is why meta-narratives are so important—they reveal and inspire the paths we may take, showing us something immeasurable, weightless, and beyond physical grasp.

All this impels us to ask: What is the foundation, the meta-narrative that precedes Marx and Freud, that clarifies the axioms guiding us?

Without a doubt, that document is the Bible. From its oral tradition—perhaps tens of thousands of years before it was written down—to the 1,500 years it took to be composed, spanning 66 to 75 books (depending on religious tradition), containing approximately 750,000 words in different translations, and written in every literary genre we have developed… it is a library with a unified narrative that laid the groundwork for a historical and cultural shift of its time and ours... for, two thousand years after its final composition, it has shaped the most prosperous, secure, and inclusive era in human history.

What is this unified narrative written over 1,500 years?
The Christian Bible presents a cohesive story pointing to Jesus of Nazareth. The Old Testament contains 300 prophecies about the Messiah, claiming that from the immaterial realm—the kingdom of the Spirit—God Himself took human form. Through His life, He revealed the true character of the Creator, taught us how to live, and, through His suffering and death, tore down the veil separating the material from the spiritual. His resurrection fully opened the connection to those who believe in Him and allow themselves to be transformed by His power.

Now is not the time to delve into all the historical, cultural, and social reasons that validate these facts (they do exist, and they are extraordinary); but let it be enough to say that this story is the proto-narrative that shaped how we perceive reality and illuminates the path we are meant to follow. You may questión the reason why I chose this theme…

In this world, there is no other solution than to embrace the cross of contradictions, to keep our eyes open even as circumstances attempt to break us apart, and to sacrifice ourselves—because we know there is something beyond what our eyes can see, something worth facing adversity for.

This is not a given Hope; it must be sought. It is that "something" in every human life, the essence we strive to discern and for which we claim our freedom... what we search, conscious or not, so it would fulfil our identity.

Today, you can browse Amazon and find hundreds of books exploring our search for God—how to seek Him, what steps to take to find Him… But that is not the story of the Bible. The narrative and testimony of the Bible tell of "God’s relentless and unwavering pursuit of humankind." It is a document unparalleled in human history.

A Deep Connection Between Identity and Hope

If we are, in essence, a story walking on two legs—seeking meaning and purpose amid the interplay and contradictions of our circumstances to answer the question, “Who am I?”—then this ancient manuscript asserts that the very Foundation and Creator of the universe is seeking us, willing to sacrifice whatever is necessary so that we may fully become who we were meant to be. The only thing He will never sacrifice is our ability to choose—our freedom to decide and to be.

"The glory of God is man fully alive."
—St. Irenaeus

You would likely agree that this is a profound idea—one that fosters an intriguing sense of hope. Throughout the universe, sacrifice is the foundation of progress and evolution: a seed must die for a tree to grow, stars must explode to give birth to new stars, planets, and life itself… The price of moving forward is sacrifice—and we are called to embrace that crux consciously.

Interestingly, we possess the unique ability to create, to generate from within us things that do not yet exist. We are conscious avatars of something far greater and more mysterious. Yet, we are not absolute masters of our minds or our flesh—it is Life itself, living within us, that urges us to seek, with intention, to find who we truly are. We sacrifice our time for a paycheck, our desires for something greater… But what is the true meaning of sacrifice if not to discover that hope that propels us to the very end we seek?

We stumble forward, trying to discern meaning—something from the Realm of the Spirit calls us to anchor our identity in a Rock that transcends all adversity.

Do you have the courage to discover what that is?