Should we feel guilty about being hopeful?
Some people will tell us that audacious optimism is inappropriate in times like these. What do YOU think? Is it possible to have “too much hope”? All positive change begins with hope. After all, isn’t “hope” the very thought that something better is possible?
“Hope” as a noun is the yeast which allows us to rise.
It’s when we lean on “hope” as a verb that we can get lazy. “I hope things get better. I hope this works out.”
- What if “hope” is not something to do, but something to have?
- What if we give ourselves permission to hang on to hope, especially when the night is long and the odds seem stacked against us?
- What if we meet that hope with courage, wisdom, and inspired action?
Hope without action is hollow. But action without hope is in vain.
Need some help refueling on hope these days? Join us in our #WhatIfUP Community Group and surround yourself with courageous people who saddle up on hope each day to ride into a better tomorrow.
May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.
~Nelson Mandela
Hope and fear resonate differently in our souls and yet they are so subtly linked. The fear is always lurking, ready to attack and immobilize, to empty every momentum of our energy.
Hope is the attitude of one who cultivates an unshakable faith in a better future, and does not give up expectation, even when concrete circumstances are so adverse as to lead to the definitive loss of all hope. The hope that looks fear in the eye and goes beyond, to generate the future.
Tenacious hope can guide us towards difficult choices that are often judged by unconscious others.
I believe that we are able to nourish hope when we follow our deep desire, when to hope means to be true to ourselves despite everything around us urges us to give up, to adapt to designs in which we do not recognize ourselves, to surrender for fear of what we cannot foresee and control. .
Aristotle conceived hope as an act of the will that arises from a virtuous habit that tends to achieve a future good that is difficult, but not impossible to achieve, and referred hope not only to the expectation of achieving the desired good but also to the trust that the way chosen to achieve it was the right one. With Aristotle, I believe that hope is therefore not just relying on a benevolent destiny but above all nurturing trust in our will and ability and strength to achieve that destiny.
Without hope, faith cannot exist.
Hope saves lives
You cannot live without it nor have to much of it
Faith is hopes best friend
Thank you for this Mendhi!
This is a lovely exploration of hope, Mendhi, thank you. On a totally different note, we’ve lived in three of the same cities (Dallas, NY and Austin!). I think these small world incidents remind me how we’re all in this together. And that, for me, inspires hope.
Thanks, Mendhi.
I suspect we’re on adjacent pages. I invest less in hope than in faith. My faith is simple: if I identify and discard habits of thinking, feeling, and behaving that create resentment and darkness, what will take their place will always be better. I keep faith with the future by keeping my expectations gently minimized.
Be good. And well.
Mac