I’m done hoping. I have hoped my whole life. I hope I become successful. I hope I am happy. I hope I can travel. I hope I can help people. The list goes on. To me, hope is intricately associated with desire, which brings up conflict. Hear me out. Hoping for something implies that it is not already a part of our current reality. Desire, in itself, cannot be fulfilled. The very nature of desire is longing for something that is not already here. The moment we acquire the very thing we think we want/need, it is quite likely the energy of desire will arise in some other form. We will want more. I call desire the ‘hungry ghost’. It simply cannot be fulfilled. There is a disconnect. I am ‘here’, and the thing/feeling/experience I am ‘hoping’ for is ‘there’. As Echkart Tolle brilliantly quoted, ‘Stress is caused by being here and wanting to be there.’ Ultimately, when we hope for something, we are not present. It is impossible to feel truly harmonious, healthy, and content when we are busy living in the past or future.

But what about moving forward in life? What about having goals and intentions? Yes. That is all good. But instead of ‘hoping’ for them to come true, for at the root of it, hoping alone is futile, I have been experimenting with shifting from hope to trust. When we trust that our life events are unfolding in a way that is revealing exactly what we need at the appropriate time, we will no longer feel disconnected or that we are lacking in any way. I also feel more inspired to take action when I shift to a state of trust. One of my mantras: ‘I understand that things take time, and I trust the process.’ Shifting to a state of trust is relatively synonymous with shifting from a state of ‘trying to control’ the situation to total surrender. Don’t waste your energy in the house of hope. Use your energy to cultivate trust and surrender in every situation. When we shift to trust, we see the world with different eyes. We will feel more present and grateful for the steps on the journey that are guiding us in the direction of our dreams.

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