Snapshot · The Mel Robbins Podcast
Clinging to hope that a compromised mother will change creates a pathological fantasy that keeps women trapped in cycles of disappointment, where choices feel like compulsions.
Where this was said
At 1:04:37 · chapter starts 1:02:50
Kelly reads aloud one of the book's defining passages: daughters of compromised mothers cling to hope. It is a pathological fantasy, she explains, not because hope is bad, but because decades of contrary evidence don't diminish it. Every woman who has ever tried one more approach, one more conversation, one more gift — hoping this time her mother will finally see and accept her — understands this intuitively. [1] — Kelly McDaniel "Hope is wired into us, but it becomes pathological when decades of evidence that something isn't working doesn't stop us from trying one mo…" 1:04:20 The invitation Kelly offers is disarmingly simple: relax, quit trying, see what happens. Redirect the energy you've been pouring outward toward yourself — because that energy is exactly what you need. Mel then shares what she describes as her favourite definition of forgiveness, attributed to Oprah Winfrey: true forgiveness is when you stop wishing things were different. That framing, Kelly agrees, is the cleanest exit from pathological hope. Forgive — not forget — and in that acceptance, reclaim the energy that has been spent on a wish that will never be granted.
Hope is wired into us, but it becomes pathological when decades of evidence that something isn't working doesn't stop us from trying one more time. The invitation is to relax, stop trying, and redirect that energy toward yourself — where it is actually needed.
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Robby Hoffman is the 7th of 10 children raised in a Hasidic household in Montreal, where the family was poor and comedy was a survival mechanism.
Robby's Hasidic community had no concept of 'too soon' in comedy — if it was funny, you threw it, and if you bombed, your sibling told you immediately.
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