One of the few benefits of growing old is that I have been able to live with much more discernment than in the past. I had discovered that there’s a massive difference between wishing for things in life and hoping for things in life.

Taking a quick stab at Google, I learned that hope refers to a realistic anticipation of something possible. Something that associates with a positive outcome. Something that I believe can actually happen.

“I hope I make my flight on time.”

Hope: to want something to happen that is possible or likely. It reflects optimism about future events.

Whereas a wish encompasses a more fantastical or improbable desire for something that I most likely will not achieve.

“I wish I could fly like a bird.”

Wish: to desire something that is impossible or not likely to happen. It often expresses regret or desire to change circumstances.

Hoping to make my flight on time is much more likely to happen than me learning to fly like a bird. I will probably make my flight, but I will never learn to fly.

Hope requires effort, wishes require a Genie in a Bottle.

There are things in my life that I wish for. But oftentimes, the things I wish for happened in the past and there is nothing I can do about it today.

I wish I had not said that.

I wish I had made a better decision.

I wish I had taken that chance.

I wish I had handled that better.

I wish I hadn’t tried the sushi.

All are wishes that will not come true – without a purple Genie, because the past is past – and done is done. Wishing the past is very much like regretting the past, wanting something to be different.

But on the other hand, hope is where the money is. In the movie Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne said, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good ever dies.”

Hope is what guided me where I am today. It is hope that place my feet on the floor every morning. Hope is the reason I keep loving my family and friends. My hope is why I try to do the right thing. It is hope that I cling to in defeat, and it is hope I rejoice with in victory.

Hope has authored the story of my life up to this moment, and hope will be the very last thing in me to die. I have a lot of possessions in my life, but none are more valuable and powerful than the hope I have for my future. Hope makes me deathless and heartened for what lies ahead. Hope is a feeling I have that all things – both good and bad – will pass, and everything is going to be okay

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

No Genie in a Bottle needed for the things for which I am hoping. They are all doable in time, with a little persistence and faith in things unseen. Although they may be invisible to others, I can see them, and that’s all that matters to me.

I stopped wishing for things to happen in my life years ago, but I have never stopped hoping for things to happen in my life. I’ve learned that hope is an action word that can grow legs and take off running into my future, clearing a path where there is none.

Hope is a good thing, and yes Andy Dufresne, it may be the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

“Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”

-Helen Keller

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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles appear on Fridays. Email comments to thowey63@gmail.com.