Give Up Hope And Hope Will Return - Grasshopper
I admit that I'm not a big fan of hope. I have it in the "wish" category and have rarely seen evidence of it working. With that said, there is a human need for hope. So how do you get it back when it's in short supply?
Before I attempt to answer that question, let me address the thing I dislike most about hope - The lack of action most hopers use. The question to ask 12-step hopers is: "If you spit in one hand and hope in the other, which hand will fill up first?"
Pure and simple, hope is an odds game, a Vegas bet.
"I hope it doesn't rain on my wedding day" and "I hope they find a cure for rudeness" have different odds. The first contains some probability; the second is a sucker's bet.
There is not a lot of action contained in hope. In most cases, it's a passive mindset - a waiting game. You are waiting for something to happen that has a probability attached.
There are some cases where you can increase your chances of winning through action. "I hope I win the lottery" has a better chance of happening if you buy a ticket. Your action in this case has given you probability.
"I hope my team wins the Super Bowl" has nothing to do with any action you take unless you are a contributing team member or Tanya Harding.
So now that we have reduced the concept of hope to a probability game, how do we increase the odds of getting more hope to get us through a tough time?
Give up hope!
That is the action you need to take to give some probability to hope returning.
Let's face it: You have more aliveness in your step when you have hope. It may not do anything to change the outcome of what you are hoping for, but it does make you feel better.
"Hope" and "No Hope" are at opposite ends of a continuum.
You create a vacuum for hope by considering that there is none. When you go to the "no hope" end of the continuum, you can't go any further out. The only thing to fill in the vacuum is hope.
By entertaining the idea of no hope, you manufacture "rock bottom" so that the only way you can go is up.
It seems counterintuitive that to get more hope, you have to give up hope, but that's precisely what you need to do to get an increase.
We are too afraid to entertain giving up. It's that fear that keeps whatever hope we have at a low level. We are not willing to risk the little hope we have in order to get more.
You have to entertain the downside in order to produce more upside than you have.
Hope has low odds to begin with, but most people cannot function without it. So if your hope tank is running low, give up hope. Just by seriously considering that there is no hope, you create that which you believe is gone.
I would never expect you to take something this wacky on faith, and hope that it works. My invitation is to convince yourself to completely give up hope and see what comes bouncing back your way.
I have no hope that you will be successful trying this method.
All the best,
John
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