Hope is a double-edged sword, on the one hand, it makes us look positively into the future and endure current situations with which we are not satisfied.
On the other hand, we often get involved in situations that are bad compromises in the hope that something will change soon and we can then solve the compromise.
We as humans are probably the only species on earth that has the ability to hope. We can dream ourselves into possible, better life circumstances and say to ourselves „one day…“.
Why do we have this ability? Is it a survival strategy that makes us superior to other animals, the ability to ‚endure‘ situations in the hope that something will improve?
Or are we with the hope also hopelessly lost at the same time and we give away our potential? Sure, hope drives us and makes us strive for a better life, but at the same time, it is often a source of despair when hopes are disappointed.
How can we reasonably consider and reflect on hope, classify it as realistic and useful, and when can we protect ourselves from hopeless hope, which becomes a striving that is futile and actually causes agony.
Is the hope of a dying person for an afterlife nonsensical or does it make it easier to say goodbye to this world? Is the hope for an improvement in the housing situation or the financial situation or an improvement in health good in itself, does it drive us enough?
Does hope make us lethargic or motivate us, does it make us actively change life circumstances and take risks? Or does it make us sit back and live with maggoty compromises because we just tell ourselves „it will get better“ until it can’t get any better?
Surely this is to be evaluated depending on the situation and hope can have many different forms. Our striving for a better life with the help of hope has certainly its sense and we have this ability certainly not in vain but it can also become a trap for us.
I wish to be able to deal with my hopes better and to realize that action is better now and life circumstances have to be changed actively because a compromise does not work. At the same time, I hope that I do not lose my hopes and compromise when I have to, for my own sake and for the sake of others.
Of course, I also hope to learn when hope makes no sense and pure acceptance of the circumstances will save me from suffering caused by hope.
For you, too, I hope that you can deal with hope.