A New Hope

Here's a new way of thinking about hope. It's guaranteed to present more options.

Grasshopper Notes are the writings from America's Best Known Hypnotherapist John Morgan. His podcasts contain his most responded to essays and blog posts from the past two decades. 

Find the written versions of these podcasts on John's podcasting site: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1628038

"The Grasshopper" is the part of you that whispers pearls of wisdom that  seem to pop into your mind from out of the blue. John's essays and blog posts are his interpretations of these "Nips of Nectar." Others have labeled his writings as timeless wisdom. 

Most of the John's writings revolve around self improvement and self help. They address topics like:

• Mindfulness
• Peace of mind
• Creativity
• How to stay in the present moment
• Spirituality
• Behavior improvement

And stories that transform you to a wider sense of awareness that presents more options. And isn't that what we all want, more options? 

John uploads these podcasts on a regular basis. So check back often to hear these podcasts heard around the world. Who wants to be the next person to change? 

Make sure to order a copy of John's new book: WISDOM OF THE GRASSHOPPER – 21 Days to Creativity. These mini-meditations take you inside where all your creative resources live. And you'll come out not only refreshed but recommitted to creating your future. 

It's only $16.95 and available at BLURB.COM at the link below. https://www.blurb.com/b/10239673-wisd...

Also, download John's FREE book INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change. It's available at John's website  https://GrasshopperNotes.com

Transcript

A New Hope

In the past, I haven't been a big fan of hope. I had it in the class of softer spoken snake oil. You may say that in the case of hope, I was hopeless.

That changed for me as I began to see hope in a different light. More on that in a moment.

The light I can't see it in is the one where we have a specific thought in our head that we really want to happen, And believe that thought will cause the result we're hoping for. That’s the couch potato’s daydream. There’s no real effort in that hope and the odds of it happening are hopeless.

Then I discovered a brand of hope I can buy into. It’s certainly not the mainstream version, but now I can honestly say, “I have hope.”

Here’s my version in a nutshell: Hope is a mental framework from which to operate – nothing else. Therein lies its power.

It finally hit me that hope and optimism are identical twins.

Optimism, for me, is not positive thinking. Optimism is a mindset that creates options. Positive thinking is as fruitless as the garden variety hope.

Optimism is a strategy that produces measurable results – not necessarily the specific one you were hoping for, but more than you get from positive thinking.

Here’s the rub: Hope and positive thinking have a specific result in mind. When you only have one option, your odds are severely diminished.

When you're optimistic, your tunnel vision goes away and you get to see more of the playing field. You're not optimistic for a specific outcome, you're just optimistic.

Think of a quarterback. He calls a pass play in the huddle. Most pass plays have options. If the first receiver isn’t open, then he looks to the second, and then the third, and then the running back. If he’s locked in on one guy, he’ll miss seeing all the other options.

When you train yourself to be optimistic, you begin to see options that traditional hope and positive thinking miss. Their scope is too narrow.

The person who relies on hope and positive thinking is really a pessimist. They’re looking for something to chase their pessimism away. It may work for a while, but pessimism is like a dog on a meat wagon. It’s coming back for more.

I’m not attempting to dash anyone’s hopes, just expand them.

Your chances of getting what you hope for increase when you let go of the specific outcome that must happen. Replace that specific desire with optimism.

Optimism creates possibilities; hope and positive thinking diminish them.

Optimism is a mindset where you trust your ability to respond to reality. This mindset creates a series of options. Conversely, you negate all of your trust and all the possibilities it presents when you pin all your hopes on one outcome.

Any woman who's ever had a "list" about the ideal mate she’d like to meet can appreciate what I’m saying. The “list” contains the qualifications a potential partner must have before she'll entertain having a serious relationship with them.

Seriously, what are the odds of finding that person? Just notice that when the individual who captures your heart does comes along, they're missing many things that were on your list. That’s when you gave up hoping and started to respond to reality. You could have never hoped your way to this partner because in doing so, you would have missed seeing this option.

I’m hopefully optimistic that my new way of hoping makes sense to you.

All the best,

John