How Assumptions Steal Your Joy: A Personal Journey to Finding Hope and Resilience

In this heartfelt solo episode of the Beyond Hope Project, Jason Tharp, the “Champion of Hope,” shares a deeply personal story about how assumptions and false narratives can rob us of joy and peace. Reflecting on his battle with a brain tumor, Jason discusses how his mind leapt to the worst-case scenario when faced with a seemingly unrelated health issue. Discover how Jason learned to confront his fears, challenge assumptions, and stay focused on spreading hope. This episode is a powerful reminder to stop letting assumptions control your life and to start embracing the strength within you to create the life you deserve. Tune in to find inspiration, resilience, and the tools to overcome your own self-limiting stories.

Three Bullet Point Topics:

 • How to Stop Letting Assumptions Control Your Life: Jason’s Personal Experience
 • Embracing Uncertainty: The Journey from Fear to Hope and Resilience
 • The Power of Changing Your Narrative: Finding Joy Beyond Assumptions

Powerful Quote:

“Stop building walls that hinder your growth; instead, find the courage to tear them down and discover the amazing person you are meant to be.” - Jason Tharp

CONNECT WITH JASON:

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OFFICIAL SHOP & BOOKSTORE:

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MEET JASON:

Hi, I’m Jason!
Ever since I was six, I knew I was born to tell stories. As a best-selling author, illustrator, and sought-after speaker, I've turned my personal battles with grade four brain cancer, obesity, and negative self-talk into fuel for transformation. My keynotes don't just talk—they spark potential, ignite creativity, and build resilience. If you're ready for an engaging experience that challenges the status quo and propels your organization to new heights, let's turn your 'impossible today' into 'possible tomorrow' together!

For more information or to partner with me - https://www.jasontharp.com/bookjason

Transcript

:10

hey guys it's Jason and welcome to the

0:12

Beyond hope project I am the champion of

0:14

Hope and I am here to hopefully deliver

0:16

some hope to you uh before we jump in uh

0:18

make sure you're you're sharing this

0:20

with everybody um we're really trying to

0:22

grow this and I need your help and I'm

0:24

going to leave it at that and I want to

0:25

jump into this episode uh which is the

0:29

whole idea how we let assumptions steal

0:32

our joy and I have a little story about

0:34

myself that is going to hopefully tie a

0:37

big bow on this for you to understand um

0:40

how far we can let our assumptions just

0:43

take us and hopefully you hear a little

0:46

bit of yourself in this story as I go

0:49

through um for you so as you're well

0:52

aware of um I was diagnosed in July 12

0:56

2021 with a a grade four gleo blastoma

0:59

uh it's a little bit of brain cancer um

1:02

doing great though all clear still all

1:04

that good stuff like that everything is

1:05

doing awesome um and you know you would

1:08

think after three plus years that I

1:10

would kind of get used to things you

1:14

know feeling weird sometimes um you I

1:18

will say the one thing that is uh

1:21

surprisingly uh shockingly whatever to

1:25

me is like how

1:26

much I am aware of when my body goes go

1:30

one way or the other um and I'm

1:32

typically pretty good at catching it and

1:35

realizing the story as I'm starting to

1:37

tell myself uh but there's sometimes

1:39

where some things kind of sneak on by

1:41

and a story starts to form um to give a

1:45

little context for this it's about the

1:46

silliness that you know um this

1:49

misguided assumption did um and when I

1:52

tell you what it is you're you're gonna

1:54

kind of giggle because it's it is the uh

1:57

it's the simplest craziest thing but it

1:59

I'll tell you why um it makes sense and

2:03

hopefully you'll see how this played out

2:05

so little bit about me so I uh about a

2:09

month before I was diagnosed with the

2:11

tumor I had a cataract in my right eye

2:15

now was weird about this was this catar

2:17

kind of flared up out of nowhere um it

2:19

could have been there um and I didn't

2:22

pay attention to it you know I sometimes

2:24

wear glasses uh you know prior to this I

2:27

wear glasses all the time now because I

2:28

actually had cataract surgery so I can't

2:30

see anything up close but back then I

2:32

would wear glasses on occasion and so if

2:34

you notice like when you get a smudge on

2:35

your lens or if you have sunglasses you

2:37

get a smudge there you kind of just

2:39

ignore it and think it's just a thing

2:40

and you look through it um that's kind

2:42

of what it was for a while and then uh

2:45

out of the blue I just woke up one day

2:47

and there was a a fog over my right eye

2:52

and I had no clue what that was and um

2:55

went to the eye doctor and it you know

2:57

oddly enough two days before that I had

2:59

just had had an eye exam and I thought

3:00

they put something in my eye that made

3:02

that happen uh turns out that it was

3:05

some cat cataract that just decided to

3:08

like you know yo here we go take off um

3:12

and so I had to end up getting surgery

3:14

all that good stuff like that fast

3:15

forward a month later I have my seizure

3:18

and um that's where the tumor is

3:20

discovered so that I tell you that to

3:24

give context to this misguided

3:27

assumption that happened recently so say

3:30

my doctor has been telling me for the

3:32

last like year or so that I had a

3:34

cataract developing in my left eye um

3:37

but it would take some time and you know

3:39

uh nothing really to worry about yet

3:41

even my cataract surgeon told me the

3:43

same thing so I was well aware of it it

3:46

happening and then um about two weeks

3:49

ago I woke up one morning and it was

3:52

like uh if you ever woke up where you

3:54

have like you feel like you have like

3:56

slime over your eye or whatever you got

3:58

to rub your eye splash some water and

3:59

all and then it clears up and stuff like

4:01

that that's kind of what it looked like

4:03

uh in my head um and I splashed the

4:06

water and it didn't clear up and I was

4:08

just like wow this is really strange and

4:10

then I made it through the day didn't

4:12

really think much of it I did a lot of

4:14

taking my glasses off thinking I had a

4:16

smudge there and it just wouldn't go

4:18

away I I remember getting up washing my

4:20

glasses a couple times you know Windex

4:22

all this stuff like that and it just

4:23

kept happening well then the next day I

4:25

woke up and it was once again we're back

4:27

to the fog over the eye now um I know

4:32

what it was I knew it was a cataract I

4:34

mean I've experienced it on the right

4:35

side now given my previous story I just

4:38

told you now you draw your own

4:40

conclusions of what assumption I made um

4:42

I didn't go to the fact that oh this is

4:45

just another cataract I just got to go

4:47

to my eye doctor and get surgery to get

4:50

it removed and voila I'll have the

4:52

vision of a 70-year-old for the rest of

4:53

my life um no I didn't I went straight

4:56

to oh my God the brain tumor is back and

5:00

here we go again and I spent you know

5:04

better part of a day talking myself off

5:07

of a ledge over and over and over again

5:09

trying to trying to distract trying to

5:11

do different things to get myself off of

5:13

this assumption train and instead I just

5:16

kept kind of building it but then I

5:17

would catch myself because I you know

5:19

one one of the things that my doctor

5:21

shout out Dr G one of the things that he

5:23

did tell me um when I initially told him

5:25

about the Cataract in my right eye was

5:28

cuz I was curious when I first was

5:29

diagnosed if this is uh related and of

5:32

course it's not there's nothing related

5:34

between the two um but even though that

5:38

was told to me I still made that

5:40

assumption and you know fast forward uh

5:44

I had luckily by timing I had uh a my

5:49

newest MRI that was scheduled that week

5:51

as well so it was kind of like that was

5:53

the thing to get to the Finish Line

5:55

right it was like I can assume all this

5:57

stuff but I kept catching myself saying

5:59

like yeah but I get I'm getting an MRI

6:01

on Wednesday then I'll then I'll know

6:03

for sure I'll have confirmation you know

6:05

and it's it's a lot of times where we

6:06

think that you know we sometimes we'll

6:08

do stuff and we tell like the universe

6:09

like you know if you just get me through

6:10

this I promise you know I'm gonna stop

6:13

this um and you know um when it came

6:17

from the MRI I went into it you know

6:20

trying to be calm telling myself the

6:21

positive stuff you know all those good

6:23

things like that but in the back of my

6:24

head I just kept thinking like oh man

6:26

like this has to be has to be and you

6:28

know um

6:30

I did the same routine I do so when I go

6:32

to get MRI I drive by myself on purpose

6:35

I let myself think and feel all those

6:37

things and then when I walk in the door

6:38

and I get an MRI machine I always thank

6:40

the the MRI tech person um and I go into

6:45

some a meditation and just check in and

6:47

know that I did everything I could that

6:49

was possibly good for me going into that

6:51

exam did the same routine again and then

6:54

I you know the next day we have the test

6:58

results uh

7:00

my hospital and um if you've listened to

7:03

any of my stories you you know that

7:05

there's a certain first doctor that uh

7:07

wasn't the greatest and I have not seen

7:10

this person since that day and you know

7:12

truth to be told I don't really care to

7:14

see that person um but just so happened

7:17

that we are in the waiting room which

7:19

usually kind of in right away but for

7:22

this one we are sitting in the waiting

7:24

room a lot longer and I hear a voice and

7:27

I look over and that doctor is walking

7:28

out the door

7:30

and immediately here comes another

7:33

assumption oh my gosh my my doc that I

7:36

that I love and and and I'm so happy is

7:38

on my team isn't here and this is the

7:41

doctor that I'm going to have to see

7:44

because out of all the times I've been

7:46

here in over these three years of

7:48

appointments they've not been there that

7:50

day um that I come in so I assume I'm

7:53

immediately that like it's bad stuff and

7:57

of course it's going to be this doct

7:59

that's going to have to tell me the bad

8:01

stuff again and I let myself roll with

8:04

that train so much that I could feel I

8:05

could suddenly start feeling my heart

8:07

race I could certainly feel like my

8:09

blood pressure going up and it was kind

8:12

of like a really little mini panic

8:14

attack while trying to look cool on the

8:16

outside and even going back into the

8:18

room finally you know back I was

8:21

listening you know for my doctor's voice

8:24

because he has a very distinct voice and

8:25

it kind of sticks out and I didn't hear

8:26

it but I kept hearing this this

8:29

other doctor's voice and at one point

8:34

somebody knocks on the door and it their

8:37

voice sounds a lot like this doctor and

8:40

it was all it was was somebody that's a

8:41

patient advocate of stopping by to see

8:43

if I needed anything um but it

8:46

immediately spiked all of these stories

8:48

all of this stuff and it just started

8:50

you know again that spiral and I don't

8:53

know about you but when I get kind of

8:55

nervous or like get ready on flight all

8:57

a sudden I have to pee a 100 times and

8:58

all stuff like that so I'm like I I need

9:00

to go to the bathroom I get up and go to

9:01

the bathroom and and come back out and I

9:03

can hear my doctor's the the good

9:05

doctor's voice in my room and I walk in

9:09

he's laughing and joking with my wife

9:13

sees me you hey Jason how's it going

9:15

shakes my hand everything's good

9:18

everything looks

9:19

good and it was like this release of

9:24

like pressure and all the stories again

9:27

and it was like going through this cycle

9:28

of all this stuff all over again that I

9:30

had to put my hand on his should I was

9:31

like At first I got to tell you this

9:32

story and I told him a little thing and

9:34

he said I told you that stuff wasn't

9:36

related I know you did that's what

9:38

actually got me through all of this this

9:40

week was this stuff but you know it

9:42

turns out that like I I created a whole

9:46

story based off of one tiny thing I got

9:51

a physical before I left you know uh

9:54

before that week before and I even

9:56

allowed that crap to flow into the thing

9:59

because one of the numbers was off that

10:01

wasn't even a bad thing that I now that

10:02

I got a consult from a different doctor

10:04

it wasn't even a bad thing that it was

10:05

off it was just my protein I didn't know

10:07

what it was rather than looking it up I

10:09

because I learned that Dr Google is not

10:11

your friend uh a long time ago but

10:13

instead of looking it up I just assumed

10:15

like because it was the only thing that

10:16

was high on it that there must be

10:17

something wrong

10:19

and I say all that to just like ask the

10:23

question you know how often have you

10:26

ever done that you make an assumption

10:29

about something that you haven't even

10:31

bothered to experience yet based off of

10:34

some sort of past thing that you've been

10:36

through now I think like me if you can

10:39

recall that pretty quick it's probably

10:41

based on a good reason like I I feel

10:44

like my assumption was justified so to

10:47

speak because it was based on this an

10:48

emotion right it was a pretty intense

10:50

emotion you don't really forget when

10:52

you're diagnosed with with brain cancer

10:54

um and the things that led up to it and

10:56

the awareness so I kind of do understand

11:00

the justification for it um but I would

11:04

be lying to you if I told you that I

11:05

felt like it was something that I should

11:07

have allowed to

11:09

continue and I wish that I could go back

11:11

and kind of just start to ask myself

11:13

this better questions and it's those

11:14

moments that start to you really shape

11:17

the the things that we're learning as

11:19

we're growing and stuff like this and I

11:21

feel that these things are what has

11:23

helped me become a better speaker become

11:25

a better you know coach become a better

11:29

you know writer become a better at doing

11:32

this is being able to understand that

11:34

like just because I have a handle on all

11:36

this stuff doesn't mean that there's not

11:37

going to be more lessons to learn

11:38

there's not new Evolutions in all of

11:41

those

11:42

things and you know so what we end up

11:44

doing is we create these like false

11:45

narratives all the time we create these

11:47

stories that aren't real based off of

11:49

our past stuff and so when when we're

11:53

doing this have you ever noticed that

11:55

you create lines between something that

11:59

that that is completely unrelated I mean

12:01

I think what we do is we we we tie

12:04

together a series of stories to to

12:07

reflect exactly what we're trying to

12:09

feel in that moment if I feel like it's

12:12

back I need to find out every reason why

12:14

it's back and then start to tie all

12:15

those things and they can be completely

12:17

unrelated right think about if there's

12:20

any time in your life where you've gone

12:22

through something similar you know where

12:24

it could be something down to the the

12:26

way somebody looked at you at the

12:28

grocery store

12:29

you make that assumption into adding it

12:31

to the story of you're looking at it

12:33

that everybody's out to get you or

12:34

whatever it could be um I certainly have

12:37

done that myself and I think that a lot

12:39

of us do th those types of things and in

12:42

these false narratives what we're

12:43

actually doing is we're stealing the

12:45

most precious part from us which is time

12:48

it's Joy it's the moment you know I

12:51

spent you know a week and a half

12:53

stealing from myself because I was

12:57

worried about a stupid cataract

13:00

thinking that that cataract translated

13:01

to all of my problems rather than just

13:06

realizing it is what it is it's still

13:09

here right now I still like my surgery

13:11

is scheduled for the 17th and I'm super

13:13

excited um because not because I get to

13:17

have another surgery but because I'll be

13:18

able to see again it's really strange if

13:20

anybody ever wants to know what a

13:21

cataract is like imagine like if you

13:22

wearing glasses you Vaseline your one

13:25

lens it's kind of like that or if you

13:27

ever get out of a shower and it's all

13:28

fogged up

13:29

um and you try to look in a mirror it

13:31

pretty much half of my eyesight is like

13:33

that right now so it's just really

13:35

really annoying doesn't hurt doesn't you

13:38

know whatever but it's just it's

13:39

annoying and so that's why I'm excited

13:43

about that but I I think about like was

13:45

the trade-off worth it was the trade-off

13:47

in all of the the the emotions that I

13:50

put myself through worth the effort of

13:53

of creating these stories and of course

13:55

the answer is no and what I do realize

13:59

though is that like it's another

14:01

affirmation for me that tells me that

14:04

through resilience how much I grow it it

14:08

allows me and it's a reminder to me that

14:12

if I'm going to continue to be this

14:14

person is beating this thing I need to

14:16

make sure that I'm checking in with

14:17

myself and checking in with my awareness

14:19

checking in with the ability to like

14:22

love myself to do the hard work make

14:24

sure that I'm showing up every day being

14:26

very persistent in this thing because

14:27

it's not going to let up it's something

14:29

that it's always going to be something

14:30

I'm going to deal with and I need to

14:31

make sure that I'm empowering myself

14:33

with the right tools to overcome these

14:36

moments these hiccups instead of writing

14:39

a story based off of something to

14:41

happened in the past using what I know

14:43

now to build a future that I actually

14:45

want and what I would encourage you to

14:47

do is is think about those things like

14:49

how often are we doing those those very

14:52

things to ourselves what are we hoping

14:54

to accomplish by living in a world that

14:56

is based off of all things that we' put

14:58

in in the past and tying together two

15:01

things that have nothing to do with the

15:02

other in order to make sure that you're

15:04

feeling good in the moment and maybe

15:06

you're on a a pity party or you're on a

15:09

you know a journey where you're just

15:10

feeling down about yourself and all

15:13

those things like that now here's the

15:15

part that I want to teach you about what

15:18

I learned in this whole thing is any

15:21

point in time I could have just reminded

15:22

myself of what my doctor told me like

15:25

truly believed it right not just like

15:28

you know hey he said it wasn't related

15:30

but really realized that like worst case

15:33

scenario let's say it was what would I

15:35

have done different I I you know what

15:38

like so if I would have if I would have

15:42

just accepted that it is what it is I

15:45

could have probably like taken it and

15:48

and done something with that time that

15:50

was actually impactful for myself and

15:53

others rather than just keep digging up

15:55

something that just had zero impact to

15:58

my life other than to take away the

16:00

stuff that I actually enjoy doing

16:02

because it was in the joy of doing those

16:04

things that you're going to find those

16:05

Escape Routes on your path to figuring

16:08

out who you are and I think often we

16:11

forget that you know most of the time

16:12

what we're doing is we're going down

16:14

through life you know not realizing that

16:17

the experiences you have had that are in

16:21

those negative spaces are the things

16:23

that actually are building you up to the

16:25

places you're trying to go it's to that

16:27

growth and resilience that you find find

16:29

the new version of yourself and there's

16:31

plenty of times for you to sit down and

16:33

take a rest and and and reflect on how

16:36

far you've come and this is how you go

16:39

from building a false narrative to

16:40

building a positive one realizing that

16:42

like there's no good in in reflecting on

16:45

the past stuff you know it's there to

16:48

teach us a lesson and in to the Future

16:51

stuff we're dealing with you know the

16:53

idea that like you know long before you

16:56

know the tumor was there I had I already

16:57

had a cataract growing right eye like

17:00

but for whatever reason I tied those two

17:01

things together you know and then

17:03

immediately tied a left you know my left

17:06

eye to it instead of just like I got bad

17:08

eyes that's it you know um I've worn

17:10

glasses since I was in second grade so

17:13

it's not a surprise that like something

17:15

wacky would go wrong with my eyes um you

17:18

know I am if I'm being honest kind of

17:20

excited about being able to like look at

17:22

the world 2020 uh it's going to be weird

17:25

to like actually not have to put glasses

17:26

on or contacts to see everything in the

17:29

world so like that's a whole new thing

17:31

that's a whole new thing that I can that

17:33

I can actually enjoy um I probably won't

17:36

enjoy the fact that if I leave my

17:38

reading glasses everywhere that I won't

17:39

see anything um but that but there's

17:42

always a trade-off for all this stuff so

17:44

as we grow realize that we have to kind

17:46

of let go of stories our assumptions you

17:48

know really are going to be things that

17:50

hold us back you can't go into every

17:52

situation thinking the worst case you

17:54

know think about the idea um that maybe

17:57

somebody has br brought a movie to you

18:00

and you were like I don't want to see

18:02

this movie I've seen this kind of movie

18:04

a million times it's going to suck I

18:06

just don't want to waste my time doing

18:07

this and all stuff like that and you

18:08

finally give up give into to it maybe

18:10

because you really love this person or

18:12

you know like you're like fine next time

18:15

I get to pick the one or whatever it is

18:17

however it plays out and you sit down

18:19

and watch the movie and at first you

18:23

could be kind of like well this this

18:24

sucks this is horrible but then there's

18:26

some sort of pivotal thing where all of

18:28

a sudden you get sucked into the movie

18:29

and at the end of it you're like wow I

18:30

really am glad that I watched that movie

18:34

think about how many times that has

18:35

happened to us where we are in a

18:37

situation where we come in predicting

18:40

we're predicting one outcome and then we

18:44

finally are in it enough that we Dro

18:47

that prediction and we just kind of are

18:51

and in that we discover that like it

18:53

wasn't so bad I'm actually glad I

18:55

watched that movie it actually turned

18:57

out pretty cool and then you're telling

18:58

somebody else about it and somebody else

19:00

checks out movie and they say like man

19:02

thanks for introducing me to that movie

19:04

this this is our life we make so many

19:07

assumptions about things that are

19:09

completely unrelated create carving

19:11

paths for ourselves that aren't really

19:15

serving ourselves well instead of just

19:18

realizing that it's just the way we're

19:20

thinking in the moment let that thought

19:22

go the same as you've let every other

19:24

thought go don't dwell on the things

19:26

that are that are there to distract you

19:28

when you are in a mission to create

19:30

something that you really want and I

19:33

wanted to pass that lesson on to you

19:34

because I allowed a cataract to derail

19:38

the thing that brings me joy which is

19:40

spreading hope which is helping people

19:42

see themselves in my story being

19:46

somebody that believes that what I think

19:49

about I could bring about it took away

19:52

that from me and all because I allowed

19:56

myself to get distracted um and for a

20:00

huge growth point to to point out to all

20:03

of you listening um this was somebody

20:06

that me meaning me that would in the

20:10

past would have blamed other things of

20:12

course this happens to me why wouldn't

20:14

it happen to me you know all this stuff

20:15

like that um and I'm proud of myself for

20:18

the fact that I didn't allow that to

20:19

happen this time instead I just kind of

20:21

let it be I understood that there was an

20:23

MRI coming up I understood that there

20:24

was an end to this path that I could

20:27

figure out what would happen then and I

20:29

allow myself to kind of go through

20:30

without it just completely der realine

20:32

all my

20:34

days but it did take some moments and

20:37

this is what I really wanted to drive

20:38

home in this episode is just finding

20:41

your strength to overcome the

20:44

assumptions that are trying to steal

20:46

your joy and stop assuming so much

20:49

there's that whole saying that everybody

20:51

always says is like you know you know

20:53

what you make when you make an

20:53

assumption um you make it an ass out of

20:56

you and me um and it totally fits

20:59

because you realize in the moment like

21:02

in hindsight like what you took from

21:03

yourself and I hope that through the

21:06

process of sharing these things that you

21:08

see yourself in my story and you learn

21:11

from these things because the world is

21:13

already full of enough narratives that

21:14

you don't need to build more for

21:15

yourself focus on the story you're

21:17

telling yourself and overcome the things

21:19

that you're not telling yourself right

21:22

and realize that there's so much joy out

21:24

there waiting for you to discover if you

21:25

just get out of your own way and allow

21:27

it to come to you stop building walls

21:29

that are that are stopping the evolution

21:31

of yourself and get to know the real you

21:33

get to sit down with yourself and find

21:35

that you are pretty amazing and I think

21:38

in that process you're going to discover

21:40

that while you make assumptions they

21:42

don't have to control you and that's

21:44

really cool part and the lesson to be

21:45

learned and all this stuff so guys as we

21:49

uh wrap this up I just want to remind

21:50

you that um you know you're doing a

21:52

great job being a human is not easy

21:54

sometimes life is going to kick you

21:55

sometimes life is going to make you draw

21:56

assumptions to things that have nothing

21:58

to do it and sometimes you might just

21:59

get a cataract and realize that with a

22:03

simple adjustment of a nonivasive

22:05

surgery you will be able to see better

22:07

too uh you just need to analyze what

22:09

you're doing be hyper aware of how

22:10

you're feeling be openhearted to do the

22:12

tough stuff for yourself persist every

22:14

day and show up for yourself and when

22:16

all those threes come together you're

22:17

going to feel pretty empowered so guys

22:19

as we say goodbye here too uh just make

22:21

sure that you're sharing this I'm

22:22

looking for two people that's it if you

22:24

know two people that have that could

22:26

benefit from this stuff just share that

22:27

with them and let those two people share

22:29

with two other people and this is how we

22:31

start this evolution of Hope and I hope

22:33

that you take the moment out today to

22:36

find a reason to celebrate who you are

22:38

because everybody else that is sitting

22:40

on the sidelines of their life is

22:41

waiting for you to become exactly who

22:43

you're supposed to be and above all else

22:46

I hope this helps