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Go Ahead and Get Your Hopes Up
If you refuse to do it, you may be giving up the only part of an experience that doesn’t suck
How many times have you been told not to get your hopes up?
True, people are almost always well-meaning when they say it. They’re afraid the potential fall will be harder if it comes from such a lovely high. I get it. You think you can avoid the heartbreak of failure if you don’t anticipate great success.
But this advice also glosses over something crucial: Getting your hopes up is deeply satisfying. It feels good. It’s fun.
I like to look at it this way. There are two parts to an action: One, you put yourself out there. Two, you either succeed or fail.
Number two is dependent on all kinds of things that are outside your control: timing, connections, funding, luck, and subjectivity.
But number one? That’s where hope can come in. Your dreams can be as big as you want them to be. Your excitement can be boundless. This all about your imagination, and you have complete control.
Yes, you will sometimes fail, and it will be crushing. But not getting your hopes up won’t make the failure less disappointing. The only thing it does is dampen everything about the experience. As Brené Brown said in…
