I wanted to throw out something to see what you all thought.
It seems to me that Hope cannot exist without Fear.
Unfortunately, fear often prevents us from acting to achieve a desired result (and I realize there are some things we hope for that are completely out of our control).
I have learned that when I remove hope of something, I am less fearful. When I am less fearful, I take action for the thing I hoped for. Contradictory I know and it probably sounds like jibberish, but the best illustration I have for this is in football.
I cannot count how many games I have seen where one team is so overly cautious of making a mistake that it paralyzes them. They play a whole game far below their ability, and then….when they are down 21 points in the fourth quarter, something snaps psychologically and they explode in productivity. It seems they accept the fact that they will probably lose and with this realization, all hesitancy goes out the window- they start playing with reckless abandon, and end up winning. The other team so far ahead, loses their hunger because they have “arrived” and suddenly are playing to “not lose” rather than win. I find this shift of mentalities fascinating because the only thing that has changed was the losing team embraced the idea of failure, hope goes out the window, and with it…fear of losing.
I know this might sound weird…..I seem much more effective, when I believe what I am attempting will absolutely not work, but I am going to try my best anyway.
Ok….Im open to comments-
PS- I had a great day with Eric and Kim yesterday at their wedding!. A very big thank you to all their family and friends who participated. I should have several of your pictures up on my blog shortly! 🙂 Please stand by!
Hmm… Can one achieve something without hoping? To me, Hope will always coexist with fear… The best that we could do is… Always belief in yourself and your abillities. Never give up and should you fail, remember it would only make you stronger… You are a great person, Michael and I really look up to you. I believe you could accomplish anything when you set your heart to it…
This sounds like reverse management by chaos! I think I understand what you are saying with regards to complacency and last minute realization. They both have that light a fire under your butt kick to them. So true of human nature!
I believe hope & fear co exist. The very definition of hope is that we believe in a positive or better outcome even if there is evidence to the contrary. If there wasn’t any evidence that a different outcome might occur, then we wouldn’t have fear thus we wouldn’t need hope. The strange thing is that hope and faith can be used in place of each other depending on the context, but when I use the word faith, I have no fear.
When your hope is in the Lord, Michael there is no fear, and nothing is impossible that He wills for you to do.
Jer 17:7-8 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
And whose hope is the LORD.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
For a prisoner on death row, a pardon offers hope of freedom. For the spiritual prisoner on death row because of the consequences of sin, God offers ultimate hope by forgiving our sins so that we can be with him in heaven forever. When life seems impossible, God brings eternal hope. Hope is essential to our perseverance, our getting through the tough times. Without hope we give up. Hope requires one thing, though-a trust in the one who brings real hope.
Fears are real and natural, at times more real than that which we fear. Fears may leave us unsettled, insecure, doubting our self-worth, having sleep problems or health problems, worrying about how tomorrow will treat us or even if there will be a tomorrow. The issue that we want settled is simple-how do we avoid fear when we can, how do we live with it when we must, and what can we learn from it?
I think I get what you’re saying. I have a similar theory on a different topic: Doubt and faith. If there is no room for doubt, why would faith be required? You could also substitute this with fear and courage. To me, the best display of courage is to do it scared. If fear doesn’t exist, what’s courageous about that?
Wow, a lot of God talk in response to this post. Although, I admit to having prayed a lot lately for a Canon 50mm 1.4f lens. Anyhoo, I get what you’re saying, Michael. Excellent insights. Another way of looking at this is something I’ve found useful. It’s the idea of being "committed" to something without being "attached." Meaning, if you can avoid being attached to a specific outcome, your actions won’t be affected by what you THINK is the action you should take to achieve that specific outcome. You’re freed up to be creative and bold without the concept of losing or failing. It just is. Pretty deep stuff, but thanks for putting it out there.
Scott, I never prayed for a Canon 50mm 1/4f lens….but I did get the Nikon 50mm 1/4f lens I prayed for and it’s awesome! 🙂
lol! Cute! Thank you so much for your thoughts and insights. I really appreciated you guys giving me some in put on this (and anyone else who wants to and is still shy, please dont be). I definitely benefited from what you had to say. 🙂
I’m having boket envy!
My take on hope and fear. I have come to believe in what I’ll call, the two hopes. One hope says, I hope such and such will happen. In other words, it doesn’t have any real expectation that such and such will happen, it only throws what ever it’s hoping for to the wind and hopes it manifests. The other hope says, I can hardly wait for such and such to happen. It has full expectation that its intended hope/goal WILL manifest. The one hope is fear based. The other hope is faith based.
Thank you Son!!
I have known of this principle before.
I needed to be reminded of it tonight as I am getting ready for my first sermon in SLC tomorrow.
Keep up the good work Mike:)
Much, much love from Mom