Those of you who’ve read my books may remember Blaine’s “ticks for hope”—a habit learned from his parents. Blaine doesn’t exactly think it’s cool, but often when he finds himself in a jam that’s where his mind goes.

This specific term was actually coined by my editor. She introduced it into a scene in Integrate when Blaine was in a pretty sucky situation, and it stuck. Given the state of things presently, I think we could all do with some ticks for hope. And specifically relating to recent COVID-19 events, we in Australia have had much to be grateful for lately.

So, what are ticks for hope? For the uninitiated, here is an example from the Blaine Colton trilogy, Book 3: Activate p. 178

    What have I got to hopeful for now?

    It seemed an impossible concept. He was doubly disabled. If he overcame one challenge, the other may be equally debilitating.

    ‘Whatever you can think of.’ Eddie’s voice interrupted Blaine’s inner monologue. ‘Maybe a person—or something—to give you hope. Grab it. Don’t let the dark thoughts in. Okay?’

Stop dark thoughts. Blaine started picking at the scabs from recent months, seeking a glimpse of … something … below each ugly wound. I can still hear and comprehend some things.

    One tick for hope.

    He acknowledged this tick reluctantly. Hope was not something he’d attached to his loss of responsiveness. Even more so now. There had to be something else.

Ticks for hope is the conscious act of picking out that one (or two, or three—or as many as you can) positive factor in a situation that’s swiftly going belly up, or has already flipped upside-down! It doesn’t have to be big. In fact, it might be something quite small, but by shifting focus from all the things going wrong and setting our sights on the thing (or things) that haven’t capsized, we can change what’s going on inside.

Looking at the positives won’t necessarily change the challenges swirling around us, but it can bolster our courage and stem the storm of anxiety threatening to overwhelm us inside. It reminds us that even when all else has collapsed, we’re still alive and we’re still inherently valuable—even if it’s really hard to believe that.

So over to you. How do you get through difficult situations? Why not jump onto comments and let me know if you have a “ticks for hope” equivalent.