Somewhere Jody England said, on one of her old radio shows I think, that even saying “hope” is a powerless place. I’m paraphrasing that of course however it struck me like a gong and I’ve been sitting with this for days.

Today it is sinking in and I’m finding words for the earth-shaking meaning of this for me. If I”m understanding correctly then when we say “I hope this or that”, we’re already setting ourselves up for failure in some ways. “I hope we can impeach #45.” “I hope I can find the money for _______.”  “I hope I can stop putting junk food down my pie hole.” “I hope that_____.” fill in your own hope thing.

If we say “I hope…” we’re leaving a back door open to blame ourselves or circumstances and events for why things don’t work out. We are in a sense trying to make sure we don’t have to feel disappointment. If I choose a path based on Hope then I don’t actually commit, if I don’t commit then I am not fully present in the process of my creating and therefore it’s harder if not impossible.

If I’m not afraid of the physical feeling of the energy I label as Disappointment or *gasp* Failure or even harder for some, Success, then I can take all the risks I want to take. “Do I do this or that?” becomes easier when there is no actual risk involved.

Have you not already survived Failure? Aren’t you already familiar with the burning, gut clenching fires of Shame? Why not claim what you want 100%? Why not feel into the sensation of Success? Permission? Freedom?

What do you actually have to lose by showing up,  even if only in the privacy of your own mind, fully as You?

If I may be so bold as to boss you around a little – take all the past evidence of why you shouldn’t claim your sovereign self, all the stories, all the movies you play over and over again in your head, the yeah buts and all your whiny whines and ask yourself, as Mr. Chow in Hangover 2 did, “But did you die?”

Stop hoping. Start claiming.