Hope

“If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.”    St. Clement of Alexandra

The first angel of the ‘Daughters of Religion’ is ‘Hope’.  Webster’s dictionary defines ‘Hope’ as to “cherish a desire with anticipation or expectation of obtainment”.  In other words, there is a goal to be obtained.  We say to ourselves, “I sure hope I get that promotion”, “I hope my new born child will be healthy”, “I hope my country will be more frugal”.

Hope is different from faith in that in faith we have an allegiance to a principle or religious doctrine.  Hope is more related to a belief (internal truth) in taking a positive outlook.  It is said that the twin sister to Spirituality is ‘Being Positive’.  Goal attainment is associated with positive emotions, where goal blockages are related to negative emotions. This is exactly akin to Universal Law:  connecting to or identifying with the positive, the Universe works positively for us; if we relate to that which is failing, dying, chaotic or negative, the Universe works negatively for us.  The Universe has very large ears and very big eyes.  It may seem blind, but it is not.

Again, we have to be realistic in our goals.  If you want to be a singer and you sing like a frog – forget it.  If you are 5’2” you cannot realistically hope to be 5’10”.  Another word for an unrealistic hope is illusion.  Dr. Eric Berne, founder of Transactional Analysis, revealed an important insight in his analysis of the psychology of illusions:  a good question to ask is “Are you waiting for Santa Claus, or are you waiting for Death?” 

Believing in or taking faith in a positive outlook is not a trendy fad, for in 1998 Martin Seligman chose ‘Positive Psychology’ as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association. 
Seligman urged psychologists to nurture talent and improving normal life.  Seligman's theory of "learned helplessness" is widely respected among scientific psychologists.

Sidenote:  the word ‘paranoia’ means you think there is a ‘conspiracy’ against you.  Interestingly, there is an opposite word, although archaic: ‘pronoia’ -  that the universe acts in your behalf.

  z