Hope: what gets you excited

Hope is sometimes this abstract foreign term.

when we ask; What or whom do you place your hope in?, people sometimes have difficulty answering that question because they are unable to get a sense of what that question is really asking, or they think very abstractly of this far away time period, and answer "God". because they think about after they die, what will happen.

But what about the day-t0-day stuff. What would elate your spirits? Knowing that you aced a test, or that you have an exciting event to look forward to tomorrow? And what would depress your spirits?

Yesterday, I made the mistake of messing up my fragile motivated self by reading discussion forums about a certain career option. After reading those, I knew I had very little chance. If they have those qualifications and they don't have an offer, then I don't have a chance. And my plan B isn't really realistic either. for many reasons. The more I think about it, the more depressing it becomes, and therefore I stop thinking about it.

But the thing is: I used to get excited when I see people loving God more, or things like that. And in 9th grade, I cried out of happiness when I got an email from my spiritual mentor, saying she was willing to mentor me; I was excited about my future spiritual growth because of the accountability.

Life is lame if all we get excited about is passing tests, getting jobs, making delicious food, solving difficult problems, starting cool projects, planning an exciting hangout or vacation, etc. What about getting excited about the time you will spend with God? Or about your spiritual growth? Or about someone else's spiritual growth? Getting more excited about spiritual things than you would for worldly things.

And at the same time getting more "distressed"/concerned when someone you know is stuck in sin, or is lukewarm, or is straying from God. Do you love God enough to hate sin? And mourn and pray for people you know who claim to love God, but are in sin?

I am preaching to myself now, as the person who is not mourning/grieving, nor getting very excited about spiritual things. And as the person who needs to be grieved for and prayed for.