May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. -Nelson Mandela
I think hope gets a bad rap sometimes. People confuse hope with passivity, like it means sitting back and doing nothing. To me, hope and action are intertwined. Hope inspires action. Hope provides vision and direction for action. Hope also requires courage. We have to first open our eyes to the truth of what is going on now, and that is not always easy. Hope is informed by the data of experience and observation. Otherwise it is just a wish (not that there is anything wrong with wishing, it is just different than hope). Hope emerges from a ground of clear seeing. Hope is not naive or blind or reckless. It is from this space of clarity that we are able to see beyond the obvious, beyond what is currently in material form. Hope requires the ability to envision what is possible, but is not yet fully actualized.
For me, hope can also be distinguished from wishing in that it reflects our willingness to receive divine inspiration and guidance. Hope inspires and guides us to take that leap into the unknown, to walk forward through uncertainty. It takes much more strength and courage to move with the energy of hope than to be driven by fear. Hope often requires an intentional choice to transcend the fears of an ego that operates with an energy of avoidance. Hope works from the assumption that good is available and active. Hope involves accessing the truth that we are blessed, that much is operating in the service of good, and that goodness abounds. And then we act accordingly. Our hopes are more likely to become realized when we participate in their co-creation. No guarantees. But if we avoid facing truth, if we close our eyes to what is happening, if we avoid and escape and flee, our hopes are much less likely to materialize. If we don’t clearly vision them, we will not be able to contribute optimally to their manifestation. We must take that “sacred pause” to allow ourselves to connect deeply and authentically with our hopes… and then move wholeheartedly in that direction.
What will you do that emerges from the ground of hope?
Ase (Ashe)!
With Peace, Love, and Soulfulness,
Dr. Shelly Harrell
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