Hope- Part One

Hope.  One word.  One word that everyone knows, and probably says at least once a day.

"I hope it doesn't rain."

"I hope the mailman brings that order today!"

"I hope my boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife calls today just to say hi."

Here's what The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary says about hope:
hope (vb) : to desire with expectation of fulfillment
hope (n) : 1. Trust, Reliance  2: desire accompanied by expectation of fulfillment (sounds like the verb to me); also : something hoped for  3 : one that gives promise for the future

Well, when I talk about hope, I suppose I use different contexts as well (meaning not just one).   Most of my hope on a daily basis is the "something hoped for" (although it makes me CRAZY when part of a word or a form of the word is used in its definition!!). 

"I hope I don't get sick."

"I hope I can go to that meeting."

"I hope Doug gets home on time because I can't handle things alone for one more second!"

And I realized that most of my "hopes" are really "hopes" at all; not by definition anyway.  Because I'm not expecting the fulfillment of those desires.  I absolutely do not expect those things....I more like wish for them. 

Wishing is desiring.  It is not the expectation of fulfillment of that desire.

That actually JUST hit me like a ton of bricks.  What good are the 17 "Hope" signs I have plastered all over my house if I don't REALLY believe it? 

My goodness.  I think I have to just sit with that a while...so I just changed the title of my post from "Hope" to "Hope-Part One!"

Because THE most important Hope is the third definition of the Noun:  One that gives promise for the future....we'll get to that later.  Right now, I really want to ponder what I've just discovered about myself!