I recently heard someone say that there are different kinds of hope. She talked about lazy hope and authentic hope. She shared that we’re displaying lazy hope when we say things like, “I hope you do well.” On the other hand, authentic hope is hope with action. That’s when we actually help make something happen.
I have long questioned whether it’s even possible to live without hope, yet I had never thought about the possibility that there are different kinds of hope.
Immediately I started thinking about how this applies to life with diabetes (because everything does). Lazy hope could be thought of as sitting around hoping for a “happy” blood glucose level, or a cure for diabetes, while authentic hope could be doing the tasks that lead to “happy” blood glucose levels.
Authentic hope could be helping those with diabetes in disaster zones or providing support to a loved one or stranger who’s struggling with the daily frustrations of diabetes. Authentic hope could be supporting work toward a cure – financially or in other ways. Authentic hope could be finding ways to stay strong, healthy and motivated until there is a cure.
I once heard about parents who threw away all their child’s diabetes supplies when they heard about a “cure,” only to call the diabetes center in a panic when they realized they still needed that stuff to help their child live until they had access to the “cure” (which, by the way, wasn’t actually a cure). What kind of hope is that?
In the hope department, I still have more questions than answers. I believe in hope, and I believe in working hard to get the best possible results. Maybe that’s hope in action.