The Psychology Of Hope and Fear

Both hope and fear are great motivators, and they both have the capacity to promote growth in us, but hope creates space in the mind and heart. Fear, more often than not, restricts it.

Just think of how you feel in your own body when you're afraid - you tense up and go on vigilant alert, like an animal bracing to fight or flee. Let's say you're walking down a dark deserted street and you hear someone following you. The instant you become aware of it your body and your mind go into hyper drive and all your energy is devoted to "Am I in danger? What do I do? Do I turn and confront? Do I run? If I confront, then what? If I run, where do I go?" Your entire world constricts to focus on the situation.

When you feel hopeful, your body's relaxed. You feel generous and open, not only with others, but with yourself too. Your world expands with ideas for how the hope could gather even more momentum. You feel motivated forward.

If fear takes too much hold of a personality, rigidity of thought and paranoia enter. When this happens on a national level the same trend is seen. You end up with things like racism, sexism and hate. When hope is experienced in the extreme in a personality, a sense of being un-tethered to reality allows delusion to enter, and on a national level this puts a culture in danger of complacency and unprepared-ness.

Obama inspired our country to make history by realizing that we need in our country the very same thing we need in our personal lives. When we use the better part of hope and fear together we're in the best position we can be in. The best part of fear is that it teaches us what we're afraid to lose, and the best part of hope is that once we know what we're afraid of losing we can set about nurturing it and keeping it strong and safe. And hope should be by far the greater force in this equation.

Fear is the prompt. Hope is the way. Fear is about trying to survive something. Hope is about knowing why you want to.

Comments

[janinei]

I hope you are right!

[nov47]

I like the way you explain this.

[betsymuller]

Your article is excellent at a time when both hope and fear are present in the collective consciousness of our society. Those of us who are hopeful and who do a good job of deliberately switching our thoughts to more positive ones still swim in the greater society's energy of fear. It can be like swimming upstream - but we do it anyway. That's all the more reason to manage our thoughts, words and actions. I firmly believe that we must BE WHAT WE HOPE TO SEE as we hold that hope for a more peaceful and prosperous world. Positive thoughts can be just as contageous as fearful ones . Hope exists within each of us and can spread to lift everyone up.

[Social Construct]

"When hope is experienced in the extreme in a personality, a sense of being un-tethered to reality allows delusion to enter ... "
Both sides of the current political atmoshere seem to be propelled by this. Perhaps extreme hope and extreme fear result in similar results: Hyper-partisanism. My fear is that the results of these extremes on partisanship has supplanted the ideals of this nation's constitutional premise of negating the influences of faction by representation of "all" in government with a "winner-take-all", polar opposite philosophy of division and exclusion.

[timbr8ks]

Excellently written, Joyce.
Even today, as Barack Obama has given me cause to be hopeful for our country and our world once again, I still fear that there are those that will try to stop him (and us) at all costs. There still are those that don't truly see the vision of what this country can be, that see only power lost and the threat of change. I listen to him speak about energy independence, education, creating opportunities to succeed, removing barriers based on color, gender, sexual preference, physical abilities, and I believe in my heart that THIS is what America truly stands for. I honestly cannot understand how any American can listen to him speak and fear his words, labeling them as Marxist or extreme. I do not understand how you can hear a description of America that echos the language of our "founding fathers" and not believe in those words.
In the end, it is their closed-minded fear that I fear the most.

[whyisthis]

It is bettter to light one candle than to curse the dark. Obama has lit the candle of hope which we all must nurture and support. I am so happy that HOPE has returned to this country.

[CitizenInformed]

Great article!

[stop7997]

This is why I have a problem with much of the dialogue coming from the left: it supposes to counter conservative fear with liberal fear. Conservatives appeal to the reptile brain, the "fear brain" as it were. We, as liberals, need to couch our arguments in terms of lover and hope, rather than hate and fear. This is what Obama did so well. Going forward, I hope to hear more of this tone coming from liberal blogs and talk radio rather than the anger and fear that drives so much of our discourse.

[wm1066]

In Traditional Chinese Medicine they say certian emotions are related to certian internal organs, so when you have a strong emotion it can affect that organ, and long term fear can affect the kidneys and the bladder, being sad can affect the heart and rage can hurt the liver and gallbladder. Positive emotions can also have a beneficial effect on our organs. I think hope helps the heart.

[zbearlady]

Was I dreaming? Did all these months of tense hope and secret fears of yet one more heartbreak over the state of our world, actually transform into vibrant reality in only a few moments time? Might I really be able to fully exhale and breathe now with ease?

I live in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California -on 65 acres of pristine natural beauty. Every day when I awaken, I feel truly blessed and honored to be a steward of this magnificent paradise. Where I have always been inspired by the harmony and purity of this landscape, inspiration has been in short-supply when contemplating the landscape of mankind -especially those in charge of leading our people.

Yet, now...for the first time in my 51 years, I have a new kind of hope. Hope in a president. Hope in our future -and the future of our children (our future generations!) For the first time in my life, I truly believe that integrity and ethics can be restored in government.

I am so thoroughly moved by Obama and the hope and vision he brings to our world, I was inspired to write this song/video. It is called 'For the Children' and it is my gift of love to the planet. I hope it inspires all who see it -as Barack Obama has inspired me! -Lynn Zanetta http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gi3VNLhHq4