When we have real hope in a better future, we are grateful for every attempt others make to help us get there.



## Real Hope

Hope is a quiet faith.  It’s an assurance of things not seen.  It is graceful.

We believe that the future holds improvement.  This comes quietly.  This doesn’t come while shouting, arguing, or with agitation in our own hearts. 

## We Have Desires for Change

We hope for others to understand us.  We hope that problems we see will improve.  We hope that long-time problems will be cleared up.

We work towards a future that is important to us.

## Others are Trying to Help

We’ve now shared our vision, our view is starting to be shared by others.  We have rallied some to our cause.  Progress is being made, though it might be slow, and we now have a choice.

We can see these other humans for the help they’re giving and the ways they’re trying, or we can see them for what they yet lack or get wrong in our view.  

Which approach do we believe will create greater positive change?

## Does Not Meet Expectations

When we see others as lagging behind our vision, we may ponder our own thought patterns and realize that we have created an expectation for them that they simply didn’t sign up for or don’t know how to meet yet.

We may become frustrated that others don’t see things in the same way.  We may start to insist in our minds that they should see and act in a way that supports our expectations.

This doesn’t quite seem like hope to me.  It seems like an opportunity for disappointment.  It seems like a projection of our own desires and views to others.  It seems an easy recipe for passive aggression — or outright aggression.  And it likely won’t create positive change.

Hope is more powerful.

But we disrupt our own hope and that offered by others when we’re frustrated or lash out.  When we feel strongly, this can be easy to do, but it’s still not helpful or a good display of our passion.

We can set the hope of others back by intense negative responses to their attempts to be involved, help, understand, comment, or discuss.  We can sterilize our own ability to cultivate hope through pride or anger.

## Making Progress with Grace and Gratitude

If we hope for a better world, we will have hope that those around us can _help_ us get there.  They can be friends and helpers, not merely speed bumps that don’t see as we do and need steamrolled in order to get to our destination faster.

If we hope that those around us will rise to the occasion, to meet the challenges we see, we don’t beat them down when they mess up.  We help them and encourage them.  We forgive them and try again.

If we hope for something big, we’re grateful for small steps that are made.

If we have hope, we can look forward with patient enthusiasm without getting anxious.  We won’t feel the need to reiterate why _everything_ is wrong.  Rather, we can help people focus on one improvement at a time.

Hope comes from within.  We find it in our best selves.  It is a gift inside each of us that we can share with each other as we decide how to feel.

## Accept Each Others’ Efforts

We’re not perfect, and we mess up.  Realizing this, we see the need to hone more hope within _ourselves_ and accept the attempts of others to do good.

Hope in ourselves and others will grow as we are forgiven and offer simple forgiveness.  

The future we seek will be better with all of us there and more probable as we help each other get there.  Others are trying to get there with us.  Let’s accept their efforts and share our hope as we create the future.

When we have real hope in a better future, we are grateful for every attempt others make to help us get there.