The Power of Hope

Posted on by Malcolm Munro in Motivate Others, Motivate You

This week I’m teaching workshops in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Unbeknownst to me, American Idol is holding auditions here this week.

This morning I was sitting in a Dunkin’ Donuts having some coffee and was surrounded by young people, dressed up in trendy clothes and carrying hand-lettered signs.  I could feel the excitement radiating from them as they talked loudly about the auditions.  I didn’t get the sense that any of them knew how far the odds were stacked against them.  It didn’t seem to matter.  Their hopes were high.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped by a small convenience store to get my pre-workshop cocktail of Red Bull and Five Hour Energy and had to wait in line behind a small crowd of people buying lottery scratchers.  They would buy them, move off to a small table, scratch off the label, then get back in line to buy more.  I didn’t get the sense that any of them knew how far the odds were stacked against them.  It didn’t seem to matter.  Their hopes were high.

Now it may seem foolish to act the way these folks did, but one thing I did notice:  optimism.

Have you ever noticed how people gravitate towards hopeful and optimistic people?  It may be one reason why Barak Obama was easily elected President in 2008.  It could be why a guy like Joel Osteen packs out a sports-arena sized church.  Optimism sells.  Optimism achieves.

Interestingly enough, pessimism seems to draw crowds too.  Have you ever participated in a “pity party”?  Ever heard the term “misery loves company”?  Pessimism sells, but it never really achieves anything.

I recently read a couple of books about the WWII battles fought on Peleliu and Okinawa recounted by Marines E.B. Sledge and Robert Leckie. Both authors, even though they fought from different units and apparently didn’t know each other, recounted how quickly men fell when they lost hope.  On the other hand, concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl survived because of his enduring hope that he could find meaning in the experience and the horrors of the camps.

So what are you hopeful about this week?  What can you look forward to?  Maybe we can take the time to identify some “hope anchors” that will keep us positively grounded.  I’ll be working on this.  Will you join me?

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