We often hear that ‘hope isn’t a strategy’ and that only by taking action can we solve our problems and achieve our goals.
I cry foul.
Hope is indeed a strategy. An essential one. Because without hope, we won’t take action (why bother?) or we’ll do it without energy or enthusiasm. Just going through the motions.
Without hope, we might not even look for solutions or recognize one when it appears.
Ah, but with hope, all things are possible.
We might doubt, we might expect it to be difficult, we might be discouraged, but we keep going, looking for a solution, because our hope tells us there must be one.
Hope gives us purpose and belief that things can get better. When things don’t work out—our idea was flawed, our action ineffective, outside forces were too strong—we don’t give up. And because we don’t, we discover more options, more things we can try or try again.
Hope isn’t a strategy? Of course it is. It might not be the only strategy, but I wouldn’t want to live without it.
