Do you practice what you hope?

​Dr. Curt Thompson says, "hope becomes this extended way in which I imagine the future based on things I'm practicing right here and now, over and over and over again.

I don't know about you, but there have been periods in my life when hope looked like the things I didn't feel like practicing right here and now.

For me at times, hope has looked like, "I hope these challenges one day disappear in my life" instead of me doing the things in my control to tackle those challenges.

Hope has looked like, "I hope this opportunity comes my way one day soon" instead of me doing little things each day that look like that opportunity.

Hope has looked like, "I long for a healthy and loving relationship in my life one day" instead of me practicing healthy and loving relational traits with the people who are in my life today.

Hope has looked like, "I hope to one day feel closer to God than I feel today" instead of me drawing closer to God every day through prayer and meditation.

If we're not careful, hope can become a crutch. It can become something I imagine instead of something I do.

We need to asks ourselves, continually, what gives me the better chance of receiving or seeing the things I am hoping for? Spending my day hoping for those things, or spending my day doing things that in some way resemble those things?

One looks like standing around with our fingers crossed. The other? It looks like confidently marching toward the hope I am hoping for.

Maybe confidence and hope aren't so unrelated?

They both require us to keep doing. To keep going. To keep going and keep practicing the things that look like the future I imagine.

What are you hoping for today?

Go practice it.