Hope Is The Mindset

Hope

Why spend all my life hoping for things to happen? 

Because hope is a journey, being hopeful means I’m not done yet, means I’m still on the path.

I always assumed hoping for things to happen meant I would feel fulfilled when they came to pass. That my life would suddenly get even better.

However, I’ve come to realize that I am happiest when I am hoping. The anticipation, the work, the journey to get to the end.

When the end happens, when what I’ve been hoping for comes true, often it leaves me searching for what’s next.

I am not ungrateful for what I’ve been given, that’s not what I mean.

What I mean is that hoping for something, making that my homeostatic state, brings me much more joy and fulfillment than the end. 

Process over result.

I think this is why I love training for races. The race is great but the joy is in the work, the hope, the possibility and the anticipation of the end. The mystery, the wonder, the excitement is so important to me. 

Hope fosters growth. Growth is my mindset. Being content to always be growing. Change is a homeostatic state, always in flux and never fully sure.

Embracing a lack of control. Doing my best with what I’ve been given, what I know how to do, doing the work, then seeing what happens. Hoping it turns in my favor, but knowing if it doesn’t, that’s ok because the result, the race, the outcome, isn’t the end. It’s just another step.

Hope is mandatory. Growth is mandatory. Change is inevitable. Balance is optional.