#406 – How is "hope in the future" keeping you trapped?

I can hope that what I want will materialize. Or I can relax in the moment-by-moment unfolding of life.

Hope gives me a momentary rush of happiness. But the loftier the hope, the harder I fall.

I can hope that my son will be released on Tuesday.

Or I can be present every day with him, on the phone, when he tells me how nervous he is about Tuesday. Not telling him to "relax" or saying, "it's all gonna be ok." But understanding his anxiety, and allowing him to express it without judging it. And sharing mine.

By projecting us into the future and bypassing the present, hope would make our wait easier, less nerve-racking. We'd be just dreaming of the bright future when everything's alright and there are no worries about money or jobs.

But at what cost does hope come?

At the cost of presence. And presence is really all we have.

What "hope in the future" will you change for presence in today?

Love,

Carolina