Blog Category: hope
Rock Star Hopes For Change On A Global Level
Two nights ago, I attended an event at the new Grammy Museum featuring Tom Morello (guitarist for Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine and in his solo incarneration, “The Nightwatchman”). He was interviewed for an hour on stage and then he played six songs alone with his acoustic guitar.
Tom blends politics and music. He talked about how he went to Harvard (unusual for a rock star) with the stated intention of “steeling himself” to be a force for positive change. He talked of his hopes and how they matured over time . . . . and how his hopes had to mature with him.
How do your hopes compare to your hopes in your late teens? How have your hopes changed? What have you given up on, left behind, abandoned? Are there areas where your hope is as strong or stronger than ever?
How big are your hopes? How do you view people who live out their hope for change on a global level?
False hope
Have you ever been the victim of false hope when someone tells you what you want to hear when you know he or she has already decided to the contrary . . . or, worse, when they are lying to make you hopeful and get you to do what they want?
Probably even the best among us have engaged in “letting someone down gently” or “let me think about buying that [fill in the blank] and get back to you next week.” These may feel harmless and few people like confrontation.
Certainly, false hope can be devastating when it relates to something as dire as a quack “cure” for a terminal disease or preying on people in financial distress by promising some form of relief which turns out to be almost or completely fraudulent.
Hope, like anything else, can be used for good or ill. Is false hope deception? Does the answer depend on the “scale” of the duplicity? How do you recognize false hope in your own life?
Is Hope Foolish?
I’m gratified to report that we now have confirmed readers and phone participants in our daily Study Hall from all seven continents. Antarctica wasn’t the most difficult, believe it or not. Our numbers are small, but growing, and I appreciate all your support for our little experiment. As we explore HOPE this week, it’s thrilling to see some our hopes begin to be realized.
Our study of results continues to advance, and all of us are on the forefront together. We are getting reports of spontaneous breakthroughs – even without breakdowns – and fewer and fewer people are speaking about their limitations in the present tense (a bit of an inside joke, and we invite you to get in on it).
Hope is a funny thing sometimes . . . and often it can be downright foolish . . . at least to someone observing it. A human can hope; right? Think about it.
From now on, Study Hall will be broadcast in HD and be a daily part of “The Today Show” as well as being a recurring segment on “Oprah” – she keeps asking for more and I hope this works out . . . and the extravagant good news goes on and on . . . I’m hoping for “The Daily Show”!
I hope that we all remember that we are all human and that one of the true indicators of our humanity is our willingness to appear foolish . . . all in service of connecting deeply to each other and being in smiling, exquisite mutual service.
HAPPY APRIL FOOL’S DAY!!!
Hutt 
PS: Please keep this vision . . who knows? With enough hope, you could be saying, “I was there way back when it began . . .”
Copyright 2009. E. B. Hutt Bush and Coaching for Results, Inc.
Hope Is A Verb
There is a store near my home that has in its display windows in letters six-feet high: “HOPE IS A VERB.” Those words caused me to look up “hope” as a verb – and it appears to me to be the intersection of expecting, wishing and being optimistic. Clearly, “hope as a verb” implies action.
I wondered: Can hope ever be passive and be a verb? What does “hoping as a verb” look like or feel like? What are they trying to say with that message in the window?
Someone mentioned in Study Hall on Monday that Christopher Reeve said, “Once you choose hope, anything is possible.” Hope, in that context is an active choice in favor of particular results . . . . and in favor of limitless possibility.
How often are your hopes backed by action? What needs to happen to make “hope a verb” that we can all use in service of having lives that work brilliantly on all levels? Is there any truth to, “I hope; therefore, I am”?
Copyright 2009. E. B. Hutt Bush and Coaching for Results, Inc.
The Struggle Between Hope and Hopelessness
This past weekend, I saw the new film, “Sin Nombre,” a very sobering look at the intersection of gang life in Mexico and the flight of immigrants into the U.S. to seek a better life.
I was struck by the tense battle between hope and hopelessness. Living in Southern California and knowing many who have immigrated here, I was nevertheless unprepared for the jarring images of hardship, deprivation and violence.
Hope, however (even, in a perverse way, for the criminals), was the driving force . . . . and the old truism of “Where there’s hope, there’s life” is demonstrated against all odds.
I came to more appreciate the poignancy of that hope in people who have come here to improve their situations and have a chance at a life that works. One cannot help but respect and admire people who are willing to take such huge chances and literally put their lives at risk in the hope of making things better.
I encourage you to see the film to remind us of the fragility – and necessity – of hope in order to accomplish any meaningful result. It doesn’t always work out – and sometimes, life is tragic – but hope can be beautiful.
Do you believe in hope, and do you encourage hope in others – your friends, partners, spouse, family, colleagues? Yet, how often, if at all, have you engaged in hopelessness or something closely resembling it?
What are the best ways you know of to maintain hope?
Copyright 2009. E. B. Hutt Bush and Coaching for Results, Inc.
Hope December 31, 2008
Welcome to the last day of 2008!
Concluding our consideration of hope this week, what do you hope for? For other people, animals, plants, oceans? For our planet? For other nations? Does that kind of hope do any good? How does what you hope for, for others express itself in your life?
Consider Thomas Merton’s words:
“Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. You gradually struggle less and less for an idea, and more and more for specific people in the end. It is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything.”
As we close the year, know that the results which we support in this practice are held to be preciously and uniquely individual to each of you, and we treasure our relationship with you.
Thank you for the opportunity to support your hopes and dreams – and please know that to learn with you is a great privilege.
May 2009 bring everything you’ve always hoped for!
Hope December 30, 2008
Yesterday, we discussed the desirability of taking action in connection with hoping . . . the notion that hope alone might be insufficient to accomplish the desired result, but that hope and action together could be a powerful combination.
That conversation elicited a question: Is there any downside to hope? If so, how do we manage it?
Francis Bacon said, “Hope makes a great breakfast and a poor dinner.” Can one over-rely on hope?
What’s the wisest possible relationship to hope?
Hope December 29, 2008
It’s traditional at this time of year to reflect on the past and to plan for the year ahead. For this short week of Study Hall, now through Wednesday, let’s consider the topic of hope.
There seem to be two disparate schools of thought about hope: those who embrace it and those who dislike it.
Famous writer and psychologist, Erik Erikson, said, “Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained, hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded or trust impaired.”
On the other hand, Nietzsche said,
“Hope is the worst of all evils for it prolongs the torments of man”
How do you feel about hope? What role, if any, does hope play in your vision for the year ahead? In general, do you cultivate or deny hope?