Two members of our hopeful community have had different, yet strikingly similar, experiences. Both were riding. One was riding a horse, the other a bike. Their stories are stellar examples of why you need hope — and determination — to both get better and get back in the saddle.
Rider number one loves horses. She spends most of her waking hours at the barn, caring for and riding her horse. In a recent competition, she and her horse went over a jump. The horse made it clean; she didn’t, and broke her heel. Once the initial pain subsided, she was placed in a boot — about three months ago now — and told to keep it immobile. She was hopeful and determined to get better as fast as possible. But heels don’t always cooperate, and she’s still in the boot, waiting to start physical therapy. Heels are simply slow to heal. Even so, she remains determined to heal quickly and get back on her horse. I know she will — the lesson here is that some things just take time and patience.
Rider number two lives to ride her bike, taking short and long rides with friends all over the world. On a recent ride, she was climbing a steep hill when her gears seized, sending her flying forward onto the side of the road and into a gravel ditch. Her co-rider was a mile behind and arrived to find her bleeding. He helped revive her, then helped her make the final ride back to the car — a mere 33 miles away. It turned out she’d torn her meniscus, and she’s now in physical therapy. No 200-mile ride for her this weekend. When I spoke with her recently about the injury, she said it’s hope and determination carrying her through the process — so that she, too, can get back in the saddle.
What the Research Says
It turns out both riders’ instincts are backed by real science. Hope and determination aren’t just nice sentiments during recovery — they measurably shape how well and how fast people heal.
Hope predicts better outcomes, not just better moods.
Studies of patients in rehabilitation for orthopedic surgery, stroke, and other injuries have found that hope, measured early in recovery, predicts better functional outcomes later on. Patients with higher psychological resilience are more likely to stick with their treatment plans and make steady physical progress, while those without it are more likely to disengage from rehab, which tends to mean longer recoveries and worse results. In other words, the mindset our riders are leaning on isn’t wishful thinking — it’s a documented predictor of how well they’ll actually recover.
The throughline: recovery from injuries like these isn’t purely a matter of tissue and time. The mental posture patients bring to rehab — hope, resilience, confidence — actually changes the outcome. Both of these riders are doing exactly what the research says works.
Question
When was the last time you had an injury and relied on hope, resilience and confidence to heal, along with following the appropriate protocol?
A Daily Dose of Hope — one short reflection each day about where hope lives in our world. Read in 50 states in the US and 94 countries throughout the World.
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