Hope is a small word with a big meaning.

Hope tells you to hold on, the dark days will pass and better days will come.

As a counsellor and someone who has worked on a suicide prevention helpline I know first hand what hopelessness looks like, without hope you can struggle to see a future. When hope is lost it can feel like you're wandering around in the dark without purpose or meaning, it can feel like you are being sucked into this void of overwhelming despair and everything can start to feel pointless. John Maxwell quoted "A man can live three days without water, forty days without food, but only five minutes without hope.

Counsellors will often hold hope for their clients when they can't find it for themselves, they do this by offering a warm, safe understanding space where they can talk through and process what they are feeling, where they can be heard without judgement, shame can be met with empathy and feelings can be validated. I believe where there is life there is hope and things can always get better with the right help and support.

A glimmer of hope can be likened to lighting a candle, a tiny flicker of light in a dark room and suddenly we can see again.