Before long, my mother will be sporting rubber boots and planting seeds in her garden. Dried up little seeds that seemingly have no life are put into the ground to be resurrected by the nutrients of the soil, the rain, the spring thunderstorms and the warmth of the sun. It really is an incredible mystery that these seeds awaken and grow to eventually produce great food. Like many fellow gardeners, my mother plants these seeds with the anticipation of abundant delicious gifts from the Earth throughout the summer and fall. Her hope has roots, a responsible plan, wisdom and a faithful ritual of planting activity.

A mentor of mine (Rob Voyle) defines hope as “the ability to imagine a tomorrow that is worth living and to have a reasonable degree of confidence that we have the resources to achieve that life.”

As Nature awakens to herself, resurrects herself from her own death (an incredible mystery in itself), she also awakens new hope within us. Last month, many of you who shared your stories of Spring with us highlighted this theme of new hope for your own life, both internally and externally – hope that Spring will bless us in our hearts and imaginations.

When we confuse real hope with fantasy-based, wishful thinking, we give up the power to make a real difference in the world and in our lives and relationships. This kind of fantasy-based ‘hope’ lacks any responsible plan of action and accountability for what we really want and investment of time, money and energy to make happen. ‘Hoping things get better’ without actively engaging in thoughtful, results-based strategies and plans can really leave an imprint of despair and hopelessness on our consciousness. In fact, this approach of ‘hoping’ without collaborative engagement on our part produces anxiety, resentment, guilt and a host of other dis-empowering states of being.

In the case of my mother’s garden, she carefully sources out her seeds, waits for the appropriate weather to plant them, has ropes and sticks to mark the rows, and determines in what part of the garden she will plant what vegetable for maximum benefit. Although there is great effort to this garden, she must hope for the eventual harvest. And while I don’t have an interest in gardening, I do think that peas eaten within an hour of being picked are absolutely heavenly.

Hope is both believing that a preferred future is possible and the confidence that the necessary resources are available to realize this preferred future. We do need to have a plan and co-create our preferred future. It is an investment of ourselves, our time, money and energy. It doesn’t ‘just happen’.What do you hope for this Spring? Over the next 12 months? What plan do you have to realize this preferred future of making life better for yourself and those you love?

I encourage you to use my Wisdom’s Way to ‘Right with the Light’: Living JOY-Fully as a resource to design your preferred future over the next 12 months, to actively co-create the pathway to what you wish to experience in your work, in your relationships, in your body, in your spirit. Happy planning (and planting seeds)!