I’ve noticed that I have a habit, and it’s something the people closest to me have probably heard me say hundreds of times. Whenever I’m talking to someone about something difficult—whether it’s my illness, a bad day, uncertainty, or simply one of those moments when life feels heavier than usual—I almost always end the conversation in the same way: “Let’s stay positive.” The funny thing is that I never really thought about why I say it. It just comes naturally.

It’s not because I believe in pretending that everything is fine. Quite the opposite. If you’ve ever had a conversation with me, you’ll know I’m not afraid to talk about difficult things. I don’t like pretending that pain doesn’t exist, and I don’t think optimism should come at the expense of honesty. Sometimes life is genuinely hard, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that instead of covering it up with empty positivity.

But I’ve realised there’s a reason I always try to end those conversations differently from how they began. I don’t like leaving people—or myself—in a place where hopelessness has the final word. After we’ve talked about everything that’s difficult, I almost instinctively feel the need to leave a small window open. Not a promise that everything will be okay, because none of us can make that promise, but a reminder that today is only today. Tomorrow still has the possibility of being different.

Maybe that comes from my own life. There have been so many moments when I was convinced things would never change, only to discover later that I couldn’t have been more wrong. Some of the hardest periods I’ve lived through eventually led me somewhere I never expected. Not because suffering is beautiful or because everything happens for a reason, but simply because life keeps moving, even when we can’t see it.

Hope, to me, isn’t about believing that everything will work out exactly the way we want. It’s about refusing to believe that today has already written tomorrow. That tiny possibility—that things can change, that we can change, that life can still surprise us—is often enough to keep taking the next step.

So if you’ve ever spoken to me and heard me say, “Let’s stay positive,” now you know what I really mean. I’m not asking you to ignore reality. I’m simply choosing not to let reality have the last word.