Still Learning...

[DnJ]

Hello Sage


Yes, hope is "a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen". Be clear, it is a feeling of expectation; it is not expectation.

Hope lies in the possibilities. Possibilities are both positive and negative, with hope being the positive possibilities we are looking towards and desire.

Expectations are the difficulty, and that which causes resentment and suffering. Expectations are hopes with a timeframe or deadline attached to them. When one attached a time limit or timeframe upon a hopefully desire it becomes an expectation. That deadline makes hope dead.

Desires lay upon a spectrum from wishes to expectations, with hope existing between the two ends of that spectrum. It ranges from the fanciful desires or wishes to likely expected outcomes. It ranges from the impossible or highly improbable to the highly likely to become real.

Consider this:

I wish to win the lottery.
I hope to win the lottery.
I expect to win the lottery.

It is very clear to infer the timeframe one would associated with each of those statements. It is also clear the level of frustration and resentment that would result when each of those goes unmet. Imagine expecting to win week after week; it wouldn’t take long and one would be pretty resentful and suffering from their unrealistic expectation.

Hope is between a wish and expectation. It is timeless - in the very best sense. Hope is an incredible well-spring of strength and good positive forward vision of one’s self, of others, and of life.

Hope does not ignore the possibilities - it embraces them. All hopes are possible. Probable is also a matter to consider for one’s balanced approach. However, probable does exactly what it says - gives the probabilities of a certain thing becoming real or happening. Sounds like deadline thinking doesn’t it, and that will kill hope.

Of course, expectations are normal. I fully expect my car to start tomorrow, the water to run in my house, the power to be on (well maybe that one is a bit less lol), and so on. Winning the lottery, nope. No expectations of that happening. Wishes sure.

It is a razors edge one walks at first. Kind of like many of the views we learn and accept on this path. And after a while, hope becomes. We become. We live hopeful happy good lives.

Hope has a feeling of expectation to it. That positive emotional energy of something desirable to happen, and yet no time component to quell it. When one focuses upon their positive future possibilities, they realize how very many of those possibilities are indeed coming true. It is truly amazing. And self-renewing.

I hope you see, and remove, the time component from your hopes as well. The future is unknown, with many many good things in store for you, and everyone. Look with hope to your future, and let it unfold in its own time.

D