What is hope?
Hope (according to the dictionary) is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. And hope against hope is, to continue to hope, although the outlook does not warrant it. Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. Hope implies a certain amount of perseverance — i.e. believing that a positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary. Hopefulness is somewhat different than optimism, in that hope is an emotional state, where optimism is a conclusion reached through a deliberate thought pattern which leads to a positive attitude.
Hope is passive in the sense of a wish or a prayer - or active as a plan or idea, often against popular belief, with persistent, personal action to execute the plan or prove the idea. Consider a prisoner of war who never gives up hope for escape and, against the odds, plans and accomplishes this. By contrast another who simply wishes or prays for freedom, or another who give up all hope of freedom.
What is hope in realistic terms for humans?
For an old man in his 80s, hope is not that life is eternal, but instead hope is health and happiness. For a blind person, hope is not the colors of the rainbow, but instead the tears of joy which fill his eyes when he feels the smiles of his loved ones.For a 6 year old suffering from leukemia, hope is the fairy’s magical wand that’ll steal away the pain.
What is hope without faith in your self….without the courage and perseverance…… without the urge to achieve the impossible………without your will to see through the circumstances and believe in your instincts……in your strengths? With every Hope in our heart, we need a SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) analysis……
Mind is what baffles us……Heart directs us to things which are more humane……but we choose to run after the materialistic things………in the hope of a better future……we make compromises with our present……when future in itself is a mystery……and which future are we talking about……when we are unsure about what happens the next moment………but we are humans……we are influenced by not what is within us……but with that which is around us……and that is our biggest issue.
Oliver wendell Holmes once said: What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
We shy away from the known in pursuit of an unknown.
But what we fail to remember is that: Life is not a bed of roses and every rose comes with thorns – sooner or later. We can’t change the inevitable……What we can do is to trust ourselves and our abilities and march forth.
“If you look at what you do not have in life, you don’t have anything, If you look at what you have in life, you have everything”.
