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A Japanese Drum (Taiko) band has a motto:

希望し　努力し　感謝して生きる

The band members have intellectual disabilities but strived to become professional drummers. In a few weeks, they are going to France to play at a cultural event for the disabled. They need to bring a business card with this motto in English. I don't know how to translate it other than "We live our lives by hoping, striving and appreciating" or "Our life is to hope, strive and appreciate." Please help to do it better. Thank you.

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I think just something like:

HOPE
EFFORT
GRATITUDE

feels more like a club motto to me in English and captures the spirit of the original. If you want it to read more like prose:

Living life with hope, effort, and gratitude

could work. It really reads better in English with the する verbs rendered as nouns rather than verbs IMO.

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    I would also suggest a maybe more "poetic": Through hope, effort, and gratitude, we live.
    – Tommy
    Oct 2, 2017 at 8:25
  • If the sense is to stick true to the fact that verbs are used, you could try: Living by hoping, working hard, and being grateful.
    – psosuna
    Oct 2, 2017 at 21:29
  • I don't think you can use "hoping" in English (or even "hope" as a verb) in a general sense; it doesn't indicate a general positive outlook, only a wish for a specific outcome. Only the noun and adjective forms can be used generally. If you want a verb to fit into this construction, maybe, "persevering" or "never giving up" could work, but I think that gets us further from the initial motto.
    – mamster
    Oct 2, 2017 at 22:33
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    @mamster, I can't say I agree -- hope can certainly be used as a standalone verb to imply a positive outlook. Meanwhile, persevere implies that the current conditions are sub-optimal and one is simply forced to put up with things.
    – Eiríkr Útlendi
    Oct 3, 2017 at 16:15
  • @mamster sure you can use it in a general sense. A person who is hopeful as an individual is consistently hoping. What exactly is that person hoping for? Usually it is so that whatever situation comes to pass, the outcome will be favorable. In this sense, the person is a hopeful individual, and is just hoping. This is actually a very valid outlook to have and the adjective suits. Another way that this can be said is "being hopeful" but it is neither better or worse than generally "hoping".
    – psosuna
    Oct 3, 2017 at 18:37

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