We live in a world full of fear. Turn on the news, open a web browser or listen to the radio and you'll hear and see stories of people's lives full of fear. The world around us is a scary place. Even in our own lives, as we go through challenges and trials, we will experience an ample amount of fear. The trials and challenges that come into our lives can be life-changing, discouraging and depressing. Luckily, we have one thing that will carry us through. We have hope.

Hope is defined as a feeling of trust, a feeling of expectation and desire for things to happen in a specific way. However, the question becomes "How do we gain hope?" What does it take to become hopeful? Here are five ways to acquire it.

Be willing to seek help

One way we acquire hope is through someone else. Sometimes it can be a person's encouraging words, a simple action or an act of service that can give us hope.

Pray

Prayer is a powerful tool that allows us to ask for hope in our lives. It provides an outlet for us to express the desires of our heart. It is a way we can talk through fears and challenges, and it gives us hope that things will change and that a supreme being is listening and will provide what is best for us.

Foster your own self-worth

When you feel good about yourself, you have a more positive attitude about life, your circumstances and your relationships with others. If you are hoping for a new job or to make new friends, your self-confidence will draw others towards you. Nobody wants to be around someone who is always putting themselves down, has a negative attitude toward life and just isn't happy.

Get involved

You can attain hope by doing something. If you worry about the world around you, find a way to get involved and serve. DoSomething.org, for example, is an organization where you can sign up for various campaigns, and it offers countless ways to get involved in your community and the world around you. This organization makes it easy to find something you are passionate about and invoke change.

Believe in hope

While there are numerous ways to lose hope, especially if you look around at all the frightening and terrible tragedies going on in the world, you need to create your own hope. When you focus on the negative in life and these horrendous events taking place around the world, then you are only going to see the negative. However, if you look at the positive, then you see the good. It's all about your own perspective.

Yes, life is scary. Yes, we are going to have challenges that are going to leave us heartbroken and discouraged. But it doesn't mean things won't work out. It doesn't mean we need to dwell on the negativity. Look for the hope in your own life. Be hopeful, even when life seems hopeless.