Thank you for this reflection, Noel. I think the cure for hopium is acceptance and the belief that whatever happens, we will handle it (maybe not always gracefully, but we will handle it). I think the yoke is resistance to what is and getting trapped in protecting our egos. When we can accept the way things are and choose our actions from the heart with our higher purpose, we can find a way that aligns with our soul’s intentions and feel at peace with the way things are.
One way I can think about this is that hope is a desire to change the way things are, and in that desire to change the way things are, there can be a lack of acceptance for what is. In my experience, I must first accept the way things are without fear, despair, or sadness. Then I can be the change I want to see in the world rather than hope for the change I want to see in the world.
On Nov 1, 2022 Chelsea wrote on Hopium, by Margaret Wheatley: