Hope is a call to action

Fear has gripped most of us in the last 2 years, and is being followed in places by a growing loss of hope. 

But what is hope?  In a recent thread on Twitter, Zen teacher and author Joan Halifax reminds us, “Hope is not the belief that everything will turn out well…. The Czech statesman Vaclav Havel said, ‘Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism.  It is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.’ Wise hope appears through our courage to rest in the field of radical uncertainty, and realise that this is the space from which we can engage.”

This reminds us that Gentian and Gorse are in the Uncertainty Group; and that by taking whichever flower remedies we need, our change in attitude means that we grow in both confidence and new competencies.

"Wise hope also reflects the understanding that what we do matters"

 “It’s when we look deeply and courageously that we realize we don’t know what will happen; this is when wise hope really comes alive, in this landscape between improbability and possibility […] and from this landscape, the imperative to act rises up.  Wise hope also reflects the understanding that what we do matters, even though how and when it may matter, who and what it may impact, are not things we can really know beforehand,” Joan continued.

Hope is a call to action, something we’re incapable of answering when we’re merely trying to remain positive or optimistic.  We may well need remedies other than Gorse to overcome hopelessness – Wild Rose for instance, or Mimulus for anxiety, or Elm or a number of others.  But they will give us the strength to face whatever difficulties lie ahead, and to help others as Dr Bach wanted and expected of his successors. 

“This is a sacred time we are in, and our work on behalf of others is sacred work.  Hope is a medicine that keeps us showing up.” ~ Joan Halifax

Quote via Brain Pickings