Learning to Hope. It's Hard.

 Obama is coming in to office on Tuesday on a tidal wave of support for his message of Hope.  I must admit that I never gave into it fully.  Don't get me wrong – I love the vision and I think Obama brings more into office with him than any other president in my lifetime – but I have not taken that hope on personally, I still hold it at arm's length. Why? Well no one's proven that the immense issues before us can be solved so why would it all of sudden be possible now?  I am thinking with my head – using models that I know from past experience. But the recent economic meltdown has also proven to me that models are insufficient – they don't account for the outliers. So I have a choice – I can sit and try to prove a double negative – because some things have never happened they will therefore not happen in the future – or I can hope.  I realize that I don't really have the option not to hope.

Here's the thing about hope however. It's really risky. It requires us to believe that there is a better thing waiting for us...and requires us to jump off the diving board believing that there is water in the pool before we have seen the water. It requires us to reject what we know as insufficient which makes us feel like maybe we failed because we still need something more...than we are not enough. Really scary for someone like me who is wildly independent and likes to believe that I can solve problems on my own.

In celebration of the new president – as well as a personal need to stretch myself – I am working on giving in to hope.  That first requires a little dreaming and imaging solutions to problems that I haven't necessarily thought could be solved, like finding work and colleagues with truly shared values, finding work that gives me the flexibility to have more family time, and finding work that strives to not just make money or produce something people will buy but work that strives to do something really valuable for its customers. But it's obviously not just about me – it's about asking how I can allocate my time in a way that serves a greater good.

Hope requires that we act. If we don't hope – and don't truly believe – we don't actually have to do anything differently.  But hope is predicated on belief, and if we really believe than it means we can do something about the problems we face.

So, on Tuesday I'll be contemplating the diving board – and the acting of jumping that it suggests. I don't know if I will completely transform myself, but I'm going to try.

What will you be thinking of on Tuesday?

Comments

[Kirsten Barker]

Rachel -

Great post. I completely agree with the challenge of finding work that will provide family balance, personal challenge and growth while serving a greater good. You aren't alone in that struggle!

Your statement "Hope requires that we act" reminds me of a favorite quote of mine from author Anne Lamott, "You take the action and the insight follows."

How often we wait/strive/search/yearn for the insight first and end up never acting...

See you at the top of the diving board!

[MikeTrap]

Heady stuff.

The world is what we make of it, Rachel. You don't need to believe, you just need to act. Just pick an event for tomorrow: http://bit.ly/3lLKrg

Don't do it for Barack. Do it to be the change you want to see in the world.

[Rachel Happe]

Hi Kristen/Mike -

Thanks for stopping by - tis indeed all about jumping off the diving board!

[ABDELWAHAB]

VICTORY OF BARACK OBAMA