We’ve all heard the well-known quote: “Hope is not a strategy“. The full quote is actually:
“Hope is not a strategy. Luck is not a factor. Fear is not an option.” ― James Cameron
It implies that hoping isn’t going to make things happen. It’s just not enough. We need to do more than that to achieve meaningful action or progress.
While this may be true, there’s more to this story and I respectfully disagree. Hope can be a strategy. Because it can still be helpful and useful and enjoyable. And sometimes that’s what we need.
I’m sad that more people don’t embrace this sentiment because it can be a respite from bleakness and sadness and negativity.
Why Hope IS a Strategy
A moment of optimism can open up new thoughts, aspirations, goals and visions of what is possible. I, for one, am big on hope.
But many tend to fear they may yearn for too much, or for too many things, or that somehow the act of hoping will lead to “bad luck”.
How many times have you heard: “Whatever you do, don’t get your hopes up.”
So many of us prefer to not expect anything good to happen, because we are afraid of being disappointed.
But I’m taking a different stance on this. I’m pro-hope. And I want everyone else to be, too.
A Different Perspective
I tend to get my hopes way up there. Ridiculously up there. So far up there that I am inevitably a little let down when the good thing that happens doesn’t measure up to my inflated imaginings.
But do people who don’t feel less disappointment when things don’t go their way?
Overall, they probably feel worse because they never feel joy while imagining the best outcome possible, right?
As we’ve talked about before, the power of thought is almost incomprehensible – it can change our state of mind, our decisions, our actions, and in effect, our reality.
Remember the joy of playing pretend when we were children?
Or when we encouraged our own children to do the same?
What’s wrong with allowing our imaginations to run wild a bit, and dream of seemingly impossible things happening to us?
And when we do, who’s to say that miracles won’t happen as a result?
Why would we not want to get our hopes up?
I think we should think that the most outrageously positive things are going to happen, one after another, throughout our day, every day.
And if they don’t all materialize, well, that’s okay. We will really enjoy our thought parade anyway.
I hope we all choose to hope today; even if it means we feel a bit of disappointment tomorrow.
After all, tomorrow we can invent happy reasons why those outrageous positive things didn’t come to pass exactly as we imagined.
Choose optimism. Get excited. Imagine there’s good news coming your way.
If you’re able to find a few minutes alone (in the shower? stuck in traffic?) describe your amazing, intoxicating vision of your day out loud.
Sing.
Smile as wide and brightly as you can.
You’ll be amazed at the intense, immediate effect these actions will have on your outlook and frame of mind.
And who knows how your outlook will change your reality?
Get your hopes up, because life is extraordinary.
Please comment and tell us all about your hopes – don’t leave anything out.
We are at our best when we are hopeful. And we all deserve to be feeling our best, all of the time.
See there, didn’t this post help to raise your spirits? It sure raised mine. So, there’s proof that hope can, in fact, be a strategy.
Hope is not a strategy? I disagree.
Thank you so much for reading.
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Joan Senio is the founder of KindCompassCoach. Her career includes 20+ years as a health care executive and 15 years (and counting) as a consultant. The common thread through Joan’s professional life has been a commitment to lead, mentor and coach current and future leaders, and women from all walks of life. KindCompassCoach provides information and advice grounded in Joan’s personal experience; however, all articles are backed by research and provide facts and advice from a wide variety of experts. Joan also serves as a thought-leader for KuelLife.com and is a regular contributor to PsychReg and Sixty and Me.
6 Responses
agreed! sometimes hope is the difference between going on and giving up! cheers and thanks for posting!
Thank you for reading and especially for commenting. You’re absolutely right – sometimes hope is what we need to keep at it!
Good read ! We all need something positive to hold us, why not let it be hope right ? Sure things won’t always go as planned but there’s already so much negativity there’s literally no harm in hoping for something positive to happen.
I am so incredibly grateful to you for writing this incredibly encouraging post! We are living in a day and time where we need all the hopeful voices, messages and thoughts we can muster. There is far too much bad news, fear, disappointment, hate and negativity everywhere we turn.
I agree wholeheartedly with you – hoping can be painful but so is the alternative of hopelessness. Life has its ups and downs but ultimately, in the end, we are where our attention takes us to. When we imagine the worst case scenario – our energy and our focus tends to lead us to the very place we feared most. When we imagine all the great possibilities (even in the midst of our pain & struggle), we allow ourselves to be open to new opportunities, creative solutions and God-given answers.
My hope is that every single person on planet Earth would know their worth, their value, their true beauty, a knowing of how loved by God they are and live out of that truth. We have a major identity crisis going on these days. There’s so much phony happening. My hope is one day everyone would be comfortable enough in themselves to be different, unique and simply themselves. Knowing that’s enough!
Sending all my love to you this day. Thank you for being such an inspiration to us all! ♥ You are loved and you are worthy!
Holly, thank you so much for your generous and heartfelt comment! And thank you also for your blog! It’s wonderful.
This is a great post! What would we do without hope? I am hopeful on a daily basis – whether it be for more work hours, writing or hitting lotto – it keeps me going. Love you! xo