The following is an excerpt from “Truth Works, Divine Life Lessons for Kids of All Ages”. The book will be released this fall; please visit www.ginasendef.com for information about pre-ordering a copy.
What could possibly be wrong with hope? When all else is gone, we always have hope; right? Not entirely. Hope as a form of faith is a positive and uplifting experience. However, if you cling desperately to hope in lieu personal responsibility than it becomes more of a problem instead of part of a solution; hope should never mean forgoing our own role in our lives. Unfortunately, too many people have made a habit of relying solely on hope to bring about miracles without actually partaking in the resolution of the issues they pray to improve.
The truth is; dependency on hope is a form of scarcity thinking. Too often, we live in hope when we should be creating hope; and that difference is vital to manifesting your dreams. Living in hope is a way of waiting and wishing for things to change and dreams to come true out of thin air; it’s an illusion. The Law of Attraction does not mean you will create your vision without effort. Sadly, most people think of their aspirations and then linger while doing nearly nothing to make them reality. Remaining passive in the hope that things and/or people will change to bring about your desires or happiness is both foolish and wasteful; so why do so many people do this?
It’s all about fear. If we actually took the time and made the effort towards achieving our desire or improving our circumstances, we might succeed OR we might fail. It is a fear of failure that precludes many from creating their lives and leaves them instead longing and wishing, or “hoping”.
Daily you will hear expressions of hope for one reason or another. Many of these hopeful statements are nothing more than an excuse for not having done the work or the right thing in the first place; only to end up relying on the magic of hope to fix our mess.
Living in hope imprisons you to believing there is nothing you can do but sit around and wait; wait for circumstances to change, wait for help, wait for a new boss, wait for a new government leader, wait for someone else to change. Many people are more willing to wait then to actually take responsibility and do something to fix their issues. Hope only works when you make it happen, not when you wait for it.
People who create hope see problems as opportunities, the do not stay idle while others do the work to bring about resolution. They do not use hope as a scapegoat for avoiding responsibility. They do not cling desperately to the notion of hope as their only answer.
We are all capable of overcoming anything but hope provides no help on its own. Hope is not about waiting, it’s about action. Hope is not the solution; it is the inspiration to find it. If you rely solely on hope, you are living in fear; fear of change, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of trying. Hope without action is living in the grips of your ego and it will ironically always lead to hopelessness.
When you understand that the nature of hope (and faith) is to provide encouragement for us to engage, then hope becomes your ally. Once you take part in making changes necessary for improvement, you will become part of the hope by inspiring others to follow. That’s when you are a creator of hope as opposed to a victim of it.
Hope is not the excuse to simply state you intentions and wait around. Hope means you pray and find the way to make it happen; having the faith that you can do it. Hope is about overcoming fear, not living in it. It means that you take risks, try new things, make mistakes, and listen to your intuition because that is how Heaven guides us. Hope offers the prayer and faith gives us the courage to follow through with the solution.
If you wait in hope, you are only offering the prayer or intention for what you want or need. We can pray all the time but if we do nothing afterwards the results will be nothing. Once you state an intention to God or your angels, you must be willing to first listen and then have to faith to follow through with the guidance you receive. When you give a prayer you must receive the advice that follows. Sure, Heaven will send help but God can only help those willing to help themselves.
The law of free will means that God and our guardian angels will not interfere in our lives unless we ask for help; but asking is only part of the remedy we seek. Whenever we ask, we hope for an answer but if we ignore the response or do not follow the guidance given then we have chosen for our situation not to improve. It’s like ordering a product from a catalog and then not opening it when it arrives; it’s useless.
Many people ignore Heaven’s guidance out of a lack of faith or ignorance. When we express our heart’s desire, hoping for it to be fulfilled, God will always provide help. It’s our willingness to use that help that matters after that. You will find answers if you are aware and you trust enough to take action. You may get the information you need, meet someone new who can help you, get a great idea, or sometimes it’s a blessing in disguise that will push us to change. Too often people ignore their intuitive ideas or dismiss Heaven’s help as their imagination or they do not take the action because they are afraid. Often, God presents us with new opportunities that may start as a problem that will lead to something better; our true desire is thrust upon us. In these situations, if you do not have faith you will sabotage the outcome.
Unfortunately, many people spend too much time asking “why me?” when they should be focusing on the blessing waiting at the end. They lose faith and sometimes don’t even try to have it. They wait, hoping for the best without taking action or with negativity behind their action. Negativity is fear and it will create blocks in manifesting. Like energy always attracts like energy especially when we are in a difficult situation; even when times are tough, you must remain positive and have faith that all will be well. Too often people hope for a change and then say something negative about their problems; attracting more of them.
Why hope for the best when you expect the worst? When you do this, you are using hope as your solution and the excuse to why you cannot achieve your goals. Furthermore, you are living in fear. Hoping for the best is futile if you refuse to take action; it will imprison you in a negative, stagnant cycle of disappointment wondering “why me?” Because if all you are willing to do is hope, then you are truly hoping for nothing.