Dr Robert Anthony: Are You A Producer Of Hope?‏

I want to talk about hope.

Hope can be a form of scarcity. There are those who live in hope and those who produce hope. What does it mean to be a producer of hope? People who produce hope are creators. People who live in hope are those who just wish and wait for things to change. 

Hope is essential because without it life would be a daunting task. However, there is a dark side to hope that very few people talk about. The difference is in what we do or don't do with hope.

For most people, hope is characterized by waiting for other people or events to change so that we can be happy or get what we want. In this respect, hope is like the dark side of positive thinking. Positive thinking rarely brings about change because it is a passive activity.  Hope then becomes a waiting game.

What people fail to understand is that hope is only a small part of the equation for success. Without action, hope leaves you in a negative reinforcing cycle of expectations, disappointment and stagnation.

Hope is the longing and wishing for things we think we don't have. However, the energy we put into wishing and waiting actually prevents us from receiving what we want.

Hope can be a prison. It is a conditioned belief that there is nothing we can do but sit back and "hope for the best". The dictionary defines hope as "the desire for something to happen while expecting or being confident that it will come true". This is nothing more than a waiting game.  

Many people create a dream and then wait for a sign from heaven that they are on the right track. When the sign fails to come, they give up and go off onto some new adventure, again waiting for a sign that this is finally "it".

We are conditioned to wait. We wait for the bus, we wait in line at the grocery store and the bank. In school we raised our hands and waited to be called upon, etc.  We wait until our parents, teachers  or some other adult tells us that it's okay to do what we want to do. 

People that are into hope feel powerless. Powerlessness is a conditioned pattern. Why is it that we can read about people who overcame great odds to accomplish some fantastic feat, but we can't manage to get to an appointment on time? We are powerless because of heavy traffic, kids won't cooperate, or some other excuse. If we really faced the truth of the situation, we would see that this supposed powerlessness is a clever disguise to keep us resisting what we can do in the moment.

Truly Caring for Your Success!

Dr. Robert Anthony