Today's Epiphany: Dissatisfaction as Hope in Disguise

 I was listening to Cathy Heller's Don't Keep Your Day Job podcast, as I do all day, almost every day, at work.  In June of 2020, she had Jason Mraz on the show, talking about his career and offering words of wisdom in the midst of the beginning of the COVID pandemic.  Something he said triggered a thought:  the fact that so many people are dissatisfied with the way things are right now is proof that there is hope.  Stay with me for a minute.  Dissatisfaction is an indication of hope, hope that things can actually get better.  If we have no hope, we may be disillusioned or resigned, but if we're dissatisfied, we know that improvement is a possibility.  

If we find ourselves dissatisfied with a purchase, we ask to talk to a customer service representative, in the hope that they will make it right.  The fact that we don't just throw away the item and buy it elsewhere or do without means we have hope that there is a solution.  If we're dissatisfied in a relationship, we'll seek counseling or at the very least have a conversation, indicating that the relationship is worth saving and we have hope of making it better.  It's only when we walk away that we show a lack of hope.

I recently started on a weight loss journey.  In the last five months, I've lost a total of 31 pounds.  I've tried losing weight many times over the last several years, with varying degrees of success.  But I've always gained back the weight.  This time, though, it's different.  Why?  Because I finally was dissatisfied with the number on the scale, the sizes of clothing I had to buy, the look of my body, and the limitations my weight put on my physical activity.  That dissatisfaction sent me into "Karen" mode--I expect a solution to my weight problem, and have hope that it will be resolved.  Dissatisfaction became hope, which became action--changing my eating habits, adding more physical activity, looking at myself with love instead of disdain.  And 31 of my hopes have been realized.  I have more to go, but I have moved beyond hope to belief:  that not only is change possible, but already accomplished.  Not only can I do this, I have done it.  

What are you dissatisfied about today?  Injustice?  The condition of the earth?  The condition of your body?  How much money you make?  Reframe that negative feeling of dissatisfaction into a positive:  hope that improvement can be made; and channel that hope into action--finding a way that you can be an instrument of that improvement you wish to see.  

If you want to listen to the podcast I mentioned above, here's the link:  https://www.dontkeepyourdayjob.com/episodes/jason-mraz

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