noun
1.
the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.
Hope is a juxtaposition. In one way it pulls us, creates an air of promise that will get us over hurdles and around obstacles. In another vein, hope sets-up expectations...and expectations are never good because events and people can never be controlled and are constantly changing. So, I'm learning, through tough life lessons, to constrain hope to only those things that are within me and letting everything else fall or fly where they may.
Acceptance, is not a juxtaposition, it is singular and controlled solely within ourselves. And while not the polar opposite of hope, acceptance carries with it peace. I'm getting better at accepting people, not hoping for or expecting people. Not that there are a lot that I've accepted - just a few people I let close-in, whom I've accepted with no limitations. There's an enormous amount of freedom in that choice. You see, no matter whether or not my expectations get "out of whack"...which they do from time to time, I always come back to the knowledge of who this and that person is to me. That choice does not change.
So hope is good...but acceptance is better.
