Overreliance on hope

I’ve heard somewhere that hope is the most negative word in the metaphysical dictionary (there’s such a thing, apparently). I can see why. Hope seems like a good thing, but hope can drive a man insane (from The Shawshank Redemption, one of the best movies ever made in my opinion). There’s no greater torture than false hope, when someone is shown a way to escape their predicament, only to realize the way out has been a lie all along.

Anyway, I come across people every now and then who tell me, ”Let’s hope, let’s hope, let’s hope.” When there’s a conflict, let’s hope it’s going to be resolved. Often followed by the praying/praise hands emoji. At one point, I told one such person that hope isn’t enough. Action, any kind of action, is needed – from writing articles to actually being on the frontlines if one is judged to be competent enough to be on the frontlines. Just as I expected, I got a long-winded response about mindfulness, and so on. I don’t argue with such people because it’s pointless and what happens with them is they are stuck in their ”bubble of mindfulness” as they are wishing their troubles away. A terrible strategy in life, but that’s just me.

Around ten years ago, there was this trend of the law of attraction. People sat in their houses and energetically attracted, or were supposed to, wealth, and so on. Well, reality is a mystery and could well be an energetic construct, I get it, but, surprise surprise, those people hadn’t really attracted what they wanted.

Then again, the energy of intent is very much a thing, sure, but you won’t get anything done just by sitting in a dark room and imagining you’re connecting with infinity in your mind.

So yes, if you’re a hostage, hope can be uplifting, hope can give you strength, hope can make you angry and give you that one last push to survive – but hope can also be an excuse not to do to anything. Living a lie that you’re doing something is even worse than doing little.