Hope

I'm going to tell you a secret that I hope you won't tell anybody else.  Keep it on the QT, if you please.

You ready?  Here it is:

I hate hope.  I absolutely loathe it.  I work hard to eradicate it from my personal lexicon, and when I find myself using it, I feel embarrassed.

Hope is helplessness elevated to virtue.  Hoping is everything you're not doing when you want to make a change.  Hoping doesn't get you what you want.  Hoping something happens or doesn't happen has never made something happen or not happen at any time in the history of the universe.

At least with worry, you're thinking about possibilities, and if possible, planning contingencies to mitigate that worry.  With prayer, you're acting positively according to the tenets of your faith.

If you're down to hope, you've got nothing left.  The quiver is empty.  That's not a place to be.

Obviously, there are certain things we can't change: the weather, the outcome of a sporting event, the success of a surgery, etc.  Things entirely outside of our control.  In that case, what's better: hoping, or planning?

Success means eliminating the requirement of hope in one's plans.  Success requires work.  Hope requires helplessness.