Hope deferred ...

We all have that one song, or parts thereof, that stays with us. That one song that just keeps popping up in your mind. Sometimes it's seasonal - the song may be old but for a particular season in your life, you just can't get it out of your mind. I have learned to pay attention to such songs, and really think about them and what meaning lies behind the lyrics (for me).

Lately, and by lately I mean the past 6 months, one particular part of a song has been popping up in my mind, and has had me thinking about hope.

Jerry Seinfeld: Oh so there's still hope?

George Costanza: I don't want hope, hope is killing me. My dream is to become hopeless. When you're hopeless, you don't care. And when you don't care, that indifference ... it makes you attractive.

This is the introduction to The Pessimist by Wale ft J. Cole and the George Costanza's response has had me thinking for a while now. Especially the first line. I don't want hope, hope is killing me. First thing I asked myself was what do you want then? If you don't want hope, what do you want then?

Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. So if you don't want that, what do you want? And maybe just to backtrack a bit, why? Why do you not want hope?

Progress.

After months of thinking about this, I came to the conclusion that I want progress. I don't want hope. I want progress. And today I want to share some thoughts about this, give you something to think about.

Before we go any further, let me declare that I am not in any way a pessimist. On the contrary, I am an optimist. So when I come across situations, I almost always have an expectation for positive outcomes. I am always hopeful that things will work out.

But what I have realised lately is that I have an additional preference. Over and above hope, I want progress. Many of you are going to read this and say to yourself "obviously, we all want progress." But what I have to realise is that most of us don't think about this in such a way that leads to us actively pursing progress. We cling on to the hope and expect things to happen. And if we're spiritual, we throw in a bit of faith and wait.

Hope breeds expectations, but expectations don't always translate to manifestation. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hoping for things that never materialise can literally make you sick.

Progress is defined as forward or onward movement towards a destination. Progress says to you "we're moving!" It may be slow, it may be fast, but we are moving. We are moving towards the desired outcome you're hoping for. But progress is work. And if you're not intentional, you can have hope with no progress.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

So the thought I want to leave you with is this: hope for a desire outcome, and progress towards it. Measure your life by the progress you are making towards your goals, and not simply by the goals you've set. Ask yourself this: Have I moved towards the goal I set, or am I still in the same place I was when I set the goal?

This is going to be the telling difference this decade ... progress.