Please DO Get Your Hopes Up

“Get your hopes up! Expect something good to happen to you every day.” – Joyce Meyer “Don’t Get Your Hopes Up!” We’ve heard that advice all our lives. Family, friends, books and movies have all warned us not to get our hopes up. It’s part of our popular culture. You may even say it yourself, but did you ever think about what you’re saying? Don’t Get Your Hopes Up is possibly the worst guidance ever. It’s advising us not to hope and not to have desires – which can only result in a low vibration. Like most people, I absorbed this teaching by osmosis. I also remember when I said it for the last time. I was in my 20’s and I was telling my brother about a job I really wanted, adding that I’m not getting my hopes up about it. Whereupon my older, wiser brother – who had by that time studied Eastern philosophy in India – pointed out how stupid I was being – as only a sibling can! He went on to explain why not getting my hopes up is ridiculous. Thank you, dear bro, for waking me up. So why IS it ridiculous to avoid getting our hopes up? Besides the fact that it’s unnatural to quash our hopes and dreams and besides the fact that it keeps our vibration low, it’s all fear-based. It’s based on some crazy fear that if we don’t get what we’re hoping for, we’ll end up feeling disappointed. But I ask you, is disappointment really too much to bear? Isn’t disappointment a part of life that most of us learned by age 5 is survivable? Here’s the most significant thing. To refuse to get our hopes up is to ignore the Law of Attraction. Because hope is a high vibration. Because the power of hope and positive expectation actually help us attract what we want. Because hope works for us, not against us! “If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?” – from the movie, South Pacific Plus, I hasten to add, hope feels good! Refusing to be hopeful is a missed opportunity to feel good. And, since we know that feeling good is the best way to attract what we want, refusing to hope is like shooting yourself in the foot. If you don’t get what you want, you’ll live; you’ll grow; you’ll get greater clarity; something better will come along. But if you continue suppressing your hope, you won’t live well. And one more thing. Refusing to get our hopes up does not guarantee we’ll avoid disappointment. In fact, refusing to hope sets us up for disappointment. Two questions: *Do you want it? *Will you allow yourself to have it? If yes and yes, then absolutely do get your hopes up. Get them up as high as possible. Ride the high vibrational energy of positive expectation and enjoy the journey. If it doesn’t happen, so what? Focus on the next desire with all the hope you can muster. And keep hope alive!