BUILDING HOPE Positive Psychology, a new branch of psychology focused on the empirical study of such things as positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions. This emerging field offers guidance on how to feel more satisfied and engaged with life, regardless of one’s circumstances. Nineteen different scientifically-validated questionnaires on everything from love, compassion, grit and gratitude are building a robust body of data about what makes people happy and resilient. What is hope? Hope is: • a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life • A feeling that what you want is achievable and that events will turn out for the best. Happiness, on the other hand, is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. Hope is about the future and happiness is about the present. You could say that people aspire to want hope and have happiness. To put it another way, hope is a means to having happiness.