I find myself wishing I were more hopeful.
Optimism about future events or the state of things to come is not a natural disposition for me (and perhaps not for anyone). This lack of optimism sometimes immobilizes me. I come to feel as though working toward desirable things will be in vain.
I think the important thing to notice here is the movement:
Hope moves.
Simply desiring something, wishing that _____ would be realized, seems an inherent forfeiture of power. Wishing for something is an appeal to the cosmos to intervene on behalf of a slothful you.
To have hope in something is a much more personal statement than most people realize. It says something about your priorities, your actions, your lifestyle, your heart and your soul. To have hope in something is to expect an outcome. Expectation, to be taken seriously, is an active disposition: expectation begets action.
To wish for something is to long for an outcome. Longing is a passive disposition: longing entails a feeling of loss or lack of something.
Hopefulness is a presence.
Wishful-ness is an absence.
I wish that I had hope that I would be more hopeful.
I hope for a time when I will wish no more.
i have to disagree with you on some points. i dn't think being hopeful and optimistic is a passive action. i think having a positive outlook and optimism allows you to have a the positive motivation you need to gain what you hope for. If you hope for something, it gives you motivation to achieve it yourself. Positivity is a motivator, like hope, and i don't think it's all that passive. But, i understand your point of view :)
ReplyDeleteI specifically said that hope is to expect which is an active disposition. I said it is a motivator. I was discussing wish when I said it's passive--"wishing for something is an appeal to the cosmos to intervene on behalf of a slothful you." Re-read it with the understanding that I'm juxtaposing hoping and wishing to illuminate the dispositional difference between the two.
ReplyDeleteYou are just too intelligent for my feeble female mind :) i re-read it an now i see your point.
ReplyDelete