Sometimes we fear to hope. We all know the saying “Don’t get your hopes up.” If we never hope, we won’t be disappointed. Or will we?
We can remain open to possibility and opportunity, without hoping. This is a passive approach where we “wait to see what happens” without striving. So, what is so special and different about hope?
What Hope Is and What Hope is Not
Hope is giving ourselves permission to invest ourselves in a dream. Hope is allowing our hearts to sing. Hope is being in love with a possibility.
I said in my previous post “On Love, Trust, Sacrifice, and Devotion,” that I would explore the notion of “the voice of the heart” in my next meditation. So, I dove into my soul to discover what the song of the heart in its purest form really is.
Hope Without Attachment
Hope is not the same as committing ourselves to a belief in an outcome, or attaching ourselves to the same. Hope is not anticipation, confidence, or expectation. It is also not faith.
Faith necessitates belief. Belief necessitates attachment to an outcome. It is a decision – a yes or a no. Even if that outcome is the arrival at “truth.” It involves a choice between black and white.
Hope in the Arms of Surrender
I believe that the magic happens when we hope because we are in love with the dream, but we surrender to the universe as to how it will manifest.
The magic happens when we hope because we are in love with the dream, but we surrender to the universe as to how it will manifest.
In my last So Purkh meditation, a terrible voice came up from the darkness. It’s purpose was to lead me to hopelessness. I was shocked to discover the cruelty of what was lurking in the recesses of my unconscious. Why were these thoughts entering my mind and what were their purpose?
The Destroyer of Hope is Fear
Darkness always comes from fear, and fear is born of a belief that we will not be able to protect ourselves. That we will not survive. We will suffer. Even though the messages in my meditation were cruel, they were also illogical and I had to look at them as blessings. They were here to teach me something. Our shadows exist in order to teach us something.
When our passions are so strong and our desires so profound, sometimes it’s easier to push them aside. It is easier to prevent those wishes from growing so that we don’t have as far to fall if disappointment comes.
But is that true? Does having hope in and of itself lead to greater disappointment if our dreams don’t manifest in the way we want them to? Not if we hope without attachment. Not if we hope from a place of surrender.
Hoping From a Place of Surrender
I realize now that the heart sings through hope, and we must never ever allow the song of our heart to become small. But if we want to protect ourselves from reckless abandon, we must temper expectation and attachment instead.
Dare to hope, and know that if your dreams don’t manifest in the way that you dreamed of, the universe surely has a better plan.