Hope is usually sold to us as a good thing.
"A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen." Sounds hot.
But what happens when hope becomes the only thing you're holding on to?
What happens when you're told to just “wait on [God],” “trust the process,” or “stay patient” — but you’re still stuck?
Be real: hope without action can become oppression.
We’ve all heard it:
- “Live with little expectation.”
- “Whatever happens, happens.”
- “Just pray and let go.”
But here’s facts: if you’re always waiting for something to happen to you, you’ll miss the power of what you can do through you.
The Weight of Expectations
Expectations come with two outcomes:
- You get what you want. → You feel proud, empowered, and ready for more.
- You don’t. → You feel resentment, frustration, guilt, and disappointment.
That second feeling is what keeps people stuck. And if you were raised to believe that hope alone will change things, you might think your failure is your fault — when in reality, it’s a lack of support, strategy, and action.
Hope is only [w]hol[l]y when it’s paired with movement.
Hope Didn’t Get Her Here. Faith + Action Did.
My mom grew up in Haiti. One day, sitting with her friends, she told them her dream:
"Mwen ta renmen deplase poum al viv Ozetazini yon jou, gen yon bèl kay, yon bèl machin, ak yon gwo fanmi."
(I want to move to the U.S. one day, have a beautiful house, a nice car, and a big family.)
Everyone laughed.
They didn’t believe she could escape the limits of where they were born. They stayed.
She didn’t.
She crossed borders, countries, and every expectation anyone had for her — and made that dream real.
That wasn’t just hope.
That was faith, vision, discipline, and work.
She didn’t just wish. She knew.
And that knowing turned into action.
Faith That Moves
A lot of us were raised religious. We were taught to pray. To believe.
But we weren’t always taught to move with belief.
Prayer is powerful. But Faith is fuel for fire.
Without direction, without discipline, without steps — faith is noise.
Think of it like this:
Faith is the vision. Discipline is the engine. Action is the road.
You need all three if you’re trying to get somewhere.
Hope Isn’t the Opposite of Fear — It’s Just One Side of It
Here’s something wild:
Fear is a form of hope.
It’s just hope for a bad outcome.
So if you spend all your time hoping things don’t go wrong…
Why not flip that energy and hope they do go right — and then get to work making sure they do?
So What Now?
Hope is good. But don’t stop there.
Hope + Faith + Discipline + Action = Results.
That’s my formula.
Your ancestors didn’t survive on hope alone.
They had plans, rituals, strength, and strategy.
They built lives with bare hands and bold belief. You’re built from that.
So yes — pray. Hope. Believe.
But when you’re done… move.
Your dreams need more than a wish.
They need a witness. And that’s you.
