The Difference between Trust and Hope
“I hope you are having a great day.”
That’s a pretty innocuous statement, in fact, it seems pretty positive. I was thinking today about the difference, though, between hope and trust. I realize that I often use the word hope, as in "I hope you are having a great day" or "I hope that you have a good time". What I've realized is that I'm hedging my bets in case that person isn't having a happy day. Or that even if they are having a lousy day, that they'll be nice enough to hide it and go “yeah, I’m doing great”. Inherent in the word hope is the possibility that your day isn't great.
I think that we say "hope" internally a lot as well. For example, “I hope I don't screw up”, “I hope this goes well”, “I hope that I like this person”, “I hope this person likes me”, “I hope I make a lot of money”, and on and on. We're not quite sure what the results will be, and we don't want to deal with the disappointment of being wrong, so we say hope because it allows us to weasel our way out later. It’s an attempt at isolating ourselves from feeling hurt and disappointed down the line.
When you say “I trust…” you are making a much stronger statement. Whether it’s externally with other people or internally with yourself, you are making a statement with conviction. It comes down to the question of whether you do trust that people are having a great day (even if it isn’t a perfect day) and, by extension, whether you do trust that your own future is going to be positive.
I think that we say "hope" internally a lot as well. For example, “I hope I don't screw up”, “I hope this goes well”, “I hope that I like this person”, “I hope this person likes me”, “I hope I make a lot of money”, and on and on. We're not quite sure what the results will be, and we don't want to deal with the disappointment of being wrong, so we say hope because it allows us to weasel our way out later. It’s an attempt at isolating ourselves from feeling hurt and disappointed down the line.
When you say “I trust…” you are making a much stronger statement. Whether it’s externally with other people or internally with yourself, you are making a statement with conviction. It comes down to the question of whether you do trust that people are having a great day (even if it isn’t a perfect day) and, by extension, whether you do trust that your own future is going to be positive.
Here’s something interesting — if you do decide to trust the external and internal circumstances of life, the universe, and everything — you will find more and more reasons to trust. Earl Nightingale said that you go in the direction of your dominant thought, and Wayne Dyer said that when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. So if you focus on and trust in positive things, you will see more evidence to support that trust.
I'm making a deliberate practice of saying trust rather than hope.
I'm making a deliberate practice of saying trust rather than hope.
I trust that you’ll join me.
Posted by DFish at 10/23/2007 1:22 AM 
Categories: Ideas and Observations
Tags: change internal circumstances hope communication word choice trust external circumstances optimism word usage understanding
Categories: Ideas and Observations
Tags: change internal circumstances hope communication word choice trust external circumstances optimism word usage understanding
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