Hope: Choosing To Act Without Evidence

Many years back, during one of my vacations in school, I applied for a particular vacation job. When I saw the job offer, I was not even sure they would take me because I did not meet up to their qualifications, but I applied anyway. There was no promise of success from anywhere, and even my friends tried to discourage me, but it did not stop me from keeping my hopes alive. Adorably, they reached out to me, and that was how I got the job. I realised that even before they reached out, I was actually glad that I applied without knowing the outcome than remaining stuck in indecision. This is the nature of hope. Sometimes it may not make sense, and it may not even have evidence, but you just need to act.

You have to understand that hope is not a wishful thinking, or a passive feeling that will keep waiting for circumstances to improve without doing anything. In reality, hope is not passive, rather it is active and demanding. True hope is about choosing to act even when there is little or no evidence that the action will produce as expected. That is, it is moving forward without any guarantee, but by trusting that your efforts can shape a good outcome for you. Hope does not look at "what if?" rather it says "even if." Which means that you do not need to get the full assurance before you take any step, but you just need to take the step nonetheless.

Acting in hope does not mean that you are ignoring reality. It means that you have recognised reality, yet you have made a choice not to allow it to paralyse you. A lot of people wait for clear signs before they take actions. Signs like approval from people, assurance of success, clear evidence, or even a perfect condition. But when you apply hope, you understand that clarity does not always follow actions, but it is the other way round. For example, a farmer may not be guaranteed a harvest before they plant, but it does not stop them from planting nonetheless. If he continues to wait for a fuller assurance, he may never see the need to plant any crop at all.

Hope is manifested in ordinary, yet very significant and courageous decisions that you take. For example, irrespective of your past rejection, hope will say "apply again." Or maybe you have failed in the past, but hope will say "start again." There is a point you may get to in life that even motivation will fade, and zeal may also fade, but hope will keep you going. Hope does not make sound, neither is it dramatic, it is a quiet resolution to take a step without a recourse to what is happening. You take steps, not because you are certain of success, but because you know that stagnation is worse than uncertainty.

It is worthy to note that you need an extensive amount of Internal strength to be able to act without evidence. Doubts may want to arise to question your efforts, and even fear may want to arise to highlight everything that could go wrong. But hope will realign your mind to focus on what needs to be done at the moment. For example; fear may ask "what if this step turns out bad or fails?" While hope will ask "what if this step is the breakthrough step that will eventually change everything positively?" This change in mindset and perception does not completely erase the risks that may be attached to the action, but it gives purpose to your action.

Hope also has a way of building momentum. Each step you take becomes a testament that progress is actually possible. Even the smallest progress that you make will keep weakening despair. When you keep putting in the hopeful action, before you know it, it will give birth to visible results. A lot of the major achievements you see today are not built on early confidence, but they are majorly built on repeated hopeful steps taken even in uncertainties situations. Always have in mind that hope is not a gift, neither is it a talent, but it is a choice that one has to consciously make.

Thanks for reading