Hope

Hope is the ability to see a brighter future. It inspires us to to keep on making the effort, to keep on living. Hope is the stuff that movies on the Hallmark Channel are made of. Throughout history people have been encouraged to have hope. There are seasons and reasons to have hope. Hope is necessary. Yet, hope by itself, is not enough. Hope, left on its own becomes a drug, an addictive condition that keeps us focused on the future and unable to deal with the present. If you really want to solve problems in your life or in your work, your hope will need some help.

If life is not satisfying now, hope has us looking to the future for relief. We hope things turn out for the best. This hope makes us dependent on the future for the answer to all that ails us. Since we are the creators of our problems, we, and not the future can solve them. The alternative to hoping is doing. Rather than looking to the future for the solution, we need to be looking at right now and confronting our problems in the present. If we don't act now we become dependent on a time (the future) that has not yet arrived. We give up our power to something that doesn't yet exist.

What we think and do now determines our future. Choosing to hope rather than choosing to act brings us a repetition of current problems. When hopes are unfulfilled, we become frustrated and we blame. We blame others. We blame conditions. We blame ourselves. We blame God. Blaming alienates us from others and from ourselves. We distance ourselves from our creativity . The message here is not to stop hoping, but to direct your hope where it can help you. Hope, as magical thinking, is ineffective. Hope, as a motivator toward effective action, is very effective.

• Direct your hope inward. Hoping for others to change and hoping for conditions to change is beyond your power. Place your hope in your own ability to succeed. Go deep within and ask for spiritual guidance, however you perceive Spirit to be. Then trust that you will be guided.

• Direct your hope toward the present moment. The myth is that if you create certain conditions you will be happy. We become dependent on things outside ourselves for our happiness . The truth is, happy and confident people are more likely to attract desirable conditions. You can choose to be happy and confident now. Use your thoughts to create this condition now.

• Accept the current state exactly as it is--no more blaming or complaining. Wishing things would have turned out differently does nothing for you except lead to more guilt and blaming. It is not the current state that hurts you. It is your perception of it that causes the pain.

• Accept that you are the creator of your own circumstances. Accept full responsibility without judgment, without condemning yourself. Ask yourself: "What is going on in me that this is happening? Who am I being that this is happening? What story am I telling myself about this?" These are powerful questions that serve to surface our incorrect assumptions. These questions, asked with sincerity and humility, lead us toward solutions.

• Forgive. Let go of all resentments and hurts. Insisting on being a victim makes you powerless. To forgive is to erase all sense of having been wounded by anyone else. Forgive yourself, too.

• Ask yourself: "What do I want to come of this?" What is your vision? Start living it now. If your vision is for the people around you to perform better, start treating them as if they already are. If your vision is to have more money, become more generous with your time, effort, and money now. Become the change that you desire.

• Do something every day that gets you closer to your vision. Take action.

We build a better future by creating a better present. Hope for a better NOW by taking action now. Take full responsibility for yourself and your conditions; listen for Spiritual guidance; forgive; and clarify what you want and become it. Don't hope that something or someone will save you. You are your own hero. Life is not a series of happy endings. It is an adventure. It is a process. Love the process and enjoy the adventure. Embrace the present with passion and confidence.