Wednesday
Do you remember when you were a little kid and you had a scrape or a bruise? I was always wondering how I’d be able to tell the injury was healing. I mostly used the press method: Press down on the wound. Does it hurt? Press What about now? Press Now?
It strikes me I deal with scanxiety in a similar way. I see a scan on the calendar and my stomach drops. I look again: am I anxious? A bit. Afraid? <pause> I feel a little teary. <pause> How about now?
I’m pleased that I no longer have subterranean fear cascading below my fake-cheery affect a week or more before the scan. Take now, for example. I have a CT scan Wednesday at 1:30 (with contrast– remember the glow-in-the-dark-goal?) I give myself a little poke. Nervous? I check: Why, yes, my stomach feels a little tight. OK, what about now? Um, I’m going to ride my bike there and get in some training. Now? By tomorrow night, I’ll know where I stand. I’ll be ready to do the next thing.
From Despair to Hope
Meanwhile, I want to tell you about a Hidden Brain podcast I heard last week, called Moving from Despair to Hope. The host, Shankar Vedantam, spoke at length with psychologist Jennifer Cheavens, of The Ohio State University. Hope is one of Cheavens’ interests.
Some of the most interesting points:
Hope is a powerful force.
- A study of lung cancer patients showed that the pain, coughing, and fatigue that often accompany active lung cancer are attenuated by high levels of hope.
- Amid equally talented athletes, their ‘hope score’ predicts how well the athlete will do. (There’s a link below to Snyder’s Hope Scale.)
- In a test measuring pain tolerance, participants’ hope scores predicted how long they endured extreme discomfort.
- Hope protects us against adversity, depression, anxiety.
A few other tidbits.
- Hope is not blind optimism.
- You cannot will yourself to feel hope.
- Hope is not something that happens to us; hope is something we construct: we create the conditions for it.
“Hope is less of a feeling and more of a way of thinking about your future,” said Cheavens.
Hope is “a learned way of thinking about oneself in relation to goals,” added host Vedantum, speaking about psychologist Rick Snyder’s beliefs about hope. (Cheavens worked with Snyder on developing hope theory before his death in 2006.)
Got Hope?
If you want to have hope, you need three things: 1) goals; 2) the ability to envision multiple pathways to accomplish those goals; and 3) the belief that you can do what’s necessary to get these things done, also known as agency.
The goals need to be specific and measurable. Cheavens says they also need to be the right size, to stretch you a little without overwhelming you. The most important thing is to develop that sense of agency. (As some Peloton instructors say, “We can do hard things.”)
When I heard this episode, I thought, “But I haven’t had any goals.” I am here to tell you I’ve since realized that’s a bunch of horse hockey.
Since lung cancer, I’ve had many goals. They haven’t been goals related to the more typical stuff, like careers, and I haven’t expressed them as wants or wishes. Instead, I’ve just announced to myself that I will be getting off steroids. I will be increasing the number of steps I can walk. I will get back into shape on my indoor bike. And the current statement: I am training to ride 75 challenging miles. (I will ride to Multnomah Falls and back by mid-September. There, that’s the official goal. Specific. Measurable. Public. <gulp>)
What I am doing right now is working out ways to train effectively, i.e., not exhaust myself with over-exercising. That involves reading about training, thinking about mileage goals, planning a schedule, figuring out a bunch of other things.
The goals I’ve mentioned all relate to the physical realm. The longer my physical condition remains stable, the broader the horizon looks; I’m coming to realize my mind is always hungry, and my spirit is right there, too. I have some planning to do….
Thanks for reading. Here’s hoping you’re feeling…well, hopeful.
More
You can read some of Snyder’s work here. Specifically, Snyder, C.R., Rand, K.L. and Sigmon, D.R. (2002). Hope theory: A member of the positive psychology family. In Snyder, C.R. and Lopez, S.J. (Eds.) The Handbook of Positive Psychology (pp. 257-276). New York, USA: Oxford University Press.
You can check out Rick Snyder’s Hope Scale here. (Scroll down the page to find it.)