Fear and Hope

While I work out I often listen to podcasts. One of my favorites is the Jordan Harbinger show – and, if you aren’t subscribed, I highly recommend you open your pod-catcher of choice and subscribe right now.

I’ll wait.

Now that that’s out of the way, the episode I was listening to was an interview with Jon Acuff.  In this episode he was discussing overthinking which I do constantly…even right now as I’m typing this. And now I worry that people are judging me for it. Oh, man…maybe I should start this post over. Or go get some caffeine.  Yeah, caffeine would help. …whoops. See, there I go again: overthinking.  Do you do that sometimes? I do it all the time! Okay, “Stay on target, Mike!”  I’m back!  So, the quote that resonated with me when John dropped this wisdom:

“Fear is free. Hope takes work.”

Think about it.  Fear is simple.  Fear can just “appear” in the confines of our mind. It’s tempting, it’s easy to believe and even easier to feed, nurture and grow.  Whether it’s fear of speaking up in a meeting, asking for a promotion, saying “yes” to something good in your life, or just FOMO – it’s so easy to let that track play in our minds eye as we go about our day.

Hope is the opposite.

It takes work; it takes active belief.  In many ways it’s like exercise – at first it can be discouraging if we don’t see positive results. After a day we can shout to the heavens, “This doesn’t work!” We often find ourselves doing this as we opening the refrigerator or ordering Chick-Fil-A.  And at that point we tap out of life as we lean into the comforting embrace of the familiar: fear.

So how do we tap back in? We tap back in by doing the work.  The next time you are challenged to come out of your comfort zone you’ll probably feel a tap on your shoulder as the devil called fear tries to entice you to be concerned and to be wary.  Politely tell him to shut up. And, as you do so, visualize the possibilities of being successful.  What COULD happen?  How would feel to win at the task in front of you?  Make it real.

And then take action 

And then another.

If your misstep, learn from it and act again.

Make hope your default process: your go-to response. 

Fear is easy. Hope takes work.

And it’s more rewarding.

You’ve got this.

Tap back in.