Hope: Un-Hooked on a Feeling
Whether you like the original B.J. Thomas’ 1968 version with the electric sitar(1), or Blue Swede’s 1974 “ooga-chaka ooga-ooga” and brass rendition(2), the idea of being “Hooked on A Feeling” is something that we can all identify with.
We love the almost intoxicating feelings that come with love. It can make our head and heart spin out of control, to worlds unknown. Reality stops and emotion takes flight. We lose our sense of time, where we are, who we are, our responsibilities. It invigorates us to the point that we are willing to try things we’d normally avoid. To do things that we’d normally would not even dare to do.
Yes, feelings are powerful. Feelings are memorable, but feelings are permanent. But hope is different. Are you ready for this?
Hope is NOT a feeling.
Hope is not something soft, sweet, or sugary.
Hope is more solid, less soft.
Hope is more steel. less sweet.
Hope is more firm, less fluff.
Hope is more willful anticipation, less wishful thinking
Hope, real hope, is something that is certain. Hope may not be 100%, but real hope is not a flimsy, flighty feeling. Hope is the certainty
There is a scene in Star Trek, the original series where Mr. Spock is describing Captain Kirk through a story.
“If I go to bed and there is no snow on the ground, and when I wake up there is snow on the ground, I can deduce that it snowed overnight.”
This is how we are to view hope. We look around and see it in our lives. It may be hidden, it may even take a lot of energy and creativity to find it, but it’s there. Hope is there
So, we have to realize that;
First, hope is not a feeling, so get over it.
Second, hope is there, so get looking for it.
Third, hope requires work, so get on with it.
Don’t get hooked on a feeling, but get unhooked from the feeling and get locked into certain hope
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Third in a series:
Hope: From Head to Heart
Practical steps for living with hope in a hope deprived world
(1) https://youtu.be/pTUAh4bQYKE?t=20
(2) https://youtu.be/w5jkAkm4JmM?t=8