Be Freaking Awesome Podcast

What Hopeful Anticipation Actually Means

Angela Belford & Sami Kinnison Season 1 Episode 232

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0:00 | 26:44

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You had a plan. You worked for it. And it didn't go the way you thought it would. So now what? Do you push through the disappointment and slap on a smile, or do you sit in it and risk getting stuck there? Most of us have never been taught a third option.

This week Sami and Angela dig into something they're calling hopeful anticipation, the thing that's different from just "having a positive mindset" and different from the expectations-versus-agreements conversation they've had before. It's not about ignoring how you feel. It's about learning to hold disappointment and hope at the same time, without letting either one win. In this episode, we dig into:

  • Permission to feel your disappointment for as long as you actually need to, not just ten tidy minutes
  • A way to hold hope and hard feelings at the same time, instead of picking one
  • Language for the moments when things don't work out and you don't know why yet
  • A gentler way to challenge someone (or yourself) who's stuck saying "it's always like this"
  • Relief that you don't have to jump straight to the silver lining to be doing it right

Angela walks through the pinball-machine image that's been rattling around in her head lately (things really are that random sometimes), the client she turned down honestly by saying "I can't figure out how to market for you," who sent her four referrals over the next year instead, and the very real 45 minutes she spent trying to reason with her toddler after a wellness visit where her daughter didn't get a shot she didn't need, and was furious about it. Sami pushes back on whether this is really "anticipation" or just plain hope, and shares what it's like to hold onto hope with less life experience to draw from.

You'll walk away with permission to actually feel your disappointment, even if it takes longer than ten minutes, and a new way to respond when you (or someone you love) gets stuck insisting things never work out. Angela's hula hoop and ladder metaphors give you language for holding space for someone without rushing in to fix them. This is the reframe for anyone who's tired of choosing between fake positivity and staying stuck.

Press play now, especially if you're in the middle of a disappointment you haven't let yourself feel yet. This one might be the permission slip you needed.



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