Hello, dear one!
When you want something so badly, do you catch yourself habitually saying “I hope”? I hope I’ll get it. I hope it will happen. I hope. I hope.
What I learned recently was that nothing good could come to me until I stopped saying “I hope.”
Before our family headed toward Zion National Park in Utah, I read multiple blogs, and took advice from the locals to get there before 8:30 to get a parking space. After all, it’s the second most visited national park in America.
The problem? We still underestimated the traffic going there; we made it just before 9 o’clock.
As my husband circled the car around to seek a magical parking space, I kept saying aloud, “I hope we’ll get a parking space soon. I hope we’ll be lucky.”
I hoped and hoped, except 35 minutes later, we were still looking for a parking space inside the park.
I finally realized I was in a state of anxiety and going down with no hope.
Fortunately, my years of self-development, including energy awareness kicked in. I needed to quickly shift my energy to get out of my mess.
At a campsite, I got off the car and asked a camper for his permission to temporarily park at his empty spot; he said yes.
My gratitude instantly improved my mood. I then admitted to my family that I needed time alone. I suggested that they went to the visitor’s center for help. We were one person or one idea away from a parking space.
As I walked my dog around the campsite, I took a few deep breaths and chuckled.
Silly me! What am I hoping for? After all, I AM here, in the park where I’ve been wanting to visit.
When I said “I hope,” there was no power in it. Was I not deserving a parking space? Was I deprived of a parking space? Was I not good enough to enjoy my day because my happiness depended on a parking space?
At that moment, I decided to drop the deadly phrase “I hope”, once and for all:
“The universe has my back. I don’t need to beg for hope. I AM THE HOPE. “
About 20 minutes later, my husband came back with a big smile on his face. Yes, he got a tip from a stranger.
And there it was! Every driver looked for an obvious parking space but missed a perfect spot right at the exit of the park entrance.
Why am I sharing this “I hope” park story with you?
When you say “I hope”, you insinuate that you don’t believe in yourself. You’re not good enough to obtain what you want. Your timeline seems to be sometime in the future, instead of now.
Of course with the expectation of someday, your mind will remain stuck on a someday island, like me singing the “I hope” song and depriving myself of a parking space.
The magical parking space showed up when I stopped saying “I hope.”
My experience led me to a curious search for the word “HOPE,” and I discovered a hope theory from Charlies Rick Snyder, the late American psychologist. His hope theory validated my park experience.
It turned out that we often associate the word hope with the emotion of possibilities. But he defined hope as a Cognitive Thinking Approach.
Hope is not how we feel; it’s rather how we think of it.
Snyder clarified hope with three components.
First, for you to have hope, you need to have a goal to look forward to.
Second, you need to create and cultivate pathways to reach your goal.
Third, you need to possess the attitude of I can do it, or I believe in myself.
This explains why we found a perfect parking space after I coincidently met all three requirements.
I set my goal to find a parking space quickly. I cultivated a pathway by stopping saying the powerless “I hope” and sending my family out for help. Lastly, I believed that the space was already there, waiting for us.
When you HOPE for anything, eradicate the saying “I hope” so that you can bring the power back to yourself.
You deserve to have what you hope for; commend it with your certainty. There is no need for endless begging prayers. Instead, apply Snyder’s three steps, then watch your hope transform into your reality.