Finding the Rainbow: Cultivating Hope to Fuel Resilience

Sometimes you can just feel it in the air! That low-level hum of anxiety in the background, like a storm brewing on the horizon.

Maybe it's about money—how to stretch it to cover everything. Maybe it's your health or the health of someone you love. Maybe it's a relationship fraying at the edges or the overwhelming heaviness of how even our leaders talk to each other these days, like kindness is a forgotten art.

Whatever it is, hope can feel slippery—like trying to hold onto soap in the shower. And when hope starts to fade, the world gets heavy. Resilience? Forget it. It feels as far away as last summer's beach vacation.

So, how do we keep our heads above water when life feels like a storm we can't outrun? How do we stay steady and find some version of resilience, even when it's hard to come by? It is hope—the dimension of love that never gives up, always looks for the best in others, perseveres, never accepts failure as defeat, never stops loving, and always looks forward to a brighter day.

Here's the thing: hope isn't about sunshine and rainbows (although rainbows are pretty great—more on that in a minute). Hope is scrappy. It's stubborn. Hope digs in and refuses to quit. It's the part of love that holds on, that says, “Okay, this is messy, but we're not giving up here.” Hope sees the storm and thinks, Maybe this is how we learn to swim better. In the end, hope is the fuel that feeds the fires of resilience. 

There's this old story—you've probably heard some version of it—about a storm that wrecked everything. People thought it was the end. But then, after the storm passed, a rainbow showed up, painting the sky with this quiet promise: Not all storms last forever. Better things are coming.

Rainbows have become these little messages of hope. They remind us that even when everything feels dark and drenched, there's light on the other side. Here are just a few of the many rainbow axioms:

"The darkest clouds make the brightest rainbows."

"A rainbow is proof that storms don't last forever."

"Rainbows are the universe's promise of better days."

"Rainbows are hope painted across the sky."

You get the idea. It's not about dodging the storm. It's about believing in what's waiting on the other side.

Resilient hope is gritty. It doesn't flinch when things get hard. It's built on small wins and the stubborn belief that hard times don't last forever. It's active—not some fluffy idea that sits around waiting for a miracle. Hope gets to work. It's what gets you out of bed when you'd rather pull the covers over your head. It's the spark that says, “Let's figure this out.”

Most importantly, hope reminds us that we're not in this alone. It's the thing that ties us together, the glue in all our broken places. It keeps us connected to the things that matter most: love, purpose, and the belief that tomorrow could be just a little better than today.

If hope feels like a distant memory right now, that's okay. It's not gone. It's just hibernating, and you can wake it up. Here's how:

Coldplay recently release the song Rainbow ", an inspiring reminder of what it means to weather the storm. It begins with lyrics reminding us of our own journey:

“As much as I could

As much as I tried

I just couldn't seem to find the light

It glows in your eyes

Everything that lives

All the stars in the sky

To all of us

No, don't give up

Storms pass, love lasts

It all goes by so fast”

Following the lyrics, the song continues as an instrumental journey through chaos and turbulence, eventually carrying the listener into sunlight—into hope. At which point, Maya Angelou's voice comes in, soft but powerful, offering words from her own life of unimaginable storms and rainbows.

At three, due to her parents' tumultuous marriage and subsequent divorce, Angelou went to live with her paternal grandmother. Returning to her mother's care briefly at the age of seven, Angelou was raped by her mother's boyfriend, who was later jailed and then murdered four days after being released from jail. Believing that her confession of the trauma had a hand in the man's death, Angelou became mute for six years.

Yet she emerged from this storm and went on to become a world-renowned poet and writer, her words becoming beacons for others in their darkest moments. This was one of her poems: 

“There's an African-American song, 19th Century

Which, is so pretty

It said, "When it looked like the sun

Wasn't gonna shine anymore

God put a rainbow in the clouds

God put a rainbow in the clouds"

And I've had so many rainbows in my clouds

I had a lot of clouds

But I have had so many rainbows

So many rainbows, so many rainbows.”

Read more about Maya's story here

The storms will come—they always do. But you're tougher than you think. And the rainbow? It's there, waiting. Sometimes you've got to squint to see it, but it's there. A quiet promise that better days are ahead. 

Hope is not the absence of fear but the refusal to let fear define us. It's the quiet, powerful voice that reminds us to keep going, no matter how heavy the rain. With hope, resilience becomes possible. Together, they form the bridge between despair and action, lighting our path forward with the promise of brighter days ahead.

So, no matter how dark the clouds, remember: the rainbow is waiting. Keep going. Keep hoping. The world needs your kind of resilience. You are stronger and braver than you know.

Until next week,

Jonathan Penner | Founder & Exec Dir. of LifeApp

LifeApp 3 Day Retreat
Relationship Coaching
What Is LifeApp?