source: fstock
"Hope must be the root of all disappointment!" This line he had read somewhere quickly came to his mind, as he sat in disappointment on a
chair, on the fifth row. In complete agony, he stayed down, as if glued to his sit, with his mind all clouded with thoughts of how disappointing the day had turned out.
The once bustling hall was now sparsely filled with only a handful of people. This was supposed to be his big day, a day of celebration,
but from the look of things, it had inadvertently turned out to be a disappointing day. "I shouldn't have hoped too much", he thought.
The days leading to this moment would see Jake, the now disappointed young man, invite his father to his high school graduation ceremony. He hadn't
seen his dad in a longtime, and as expected, was elated when his father- someone he placed on the highest pedestal, his ultimate
role model- promised to show up for his big day. His hopes were way over the roof, they were sky high. Fast forward to the d-day, he kept making a 180 degrees turn of the neck, in hopes he would catch as little as a glimpse of his father walking through the entrance door. Although slightly diminishing as time
progressed, he kept his hopes alive. Eventually, the event was over, his idol never showed up. Words would fail in an attempt to accurately convey how disappointed he was.
He had made up a sort of plan in his mind- a mini list of programs- how he intended the day to pan out. Apart from sharing his big day with his dad, he
also had a a lot to discuss with his "world's greatest dad", a lot of catching up to do. But apparently, all of that had been burnt to nothing.
His disappointment grew further when he stepped out of the hall and saw his friends take photos with their parents. Even those who were sure their
parents wouldn't make it. He eventually left for home frustrated and in a despondent state. His high hopes had brought about a great disappointment.
source: istockpost
Hope has be likened to a fuel that keeps a fire burning, burning in the depths of minds of people. It burns in them and propels them to take action that is aimed at achieving a better life. Consider two scenarios: first, as in the case of the story, the boy expects and sees possibility of his dad coming to his graduation; and second, another boy, who by no means, envisions the possibility of his dad making it to his graduation, and only doubts the possibility of it happening. Think about it for a second, who among both boys is most likely to make plans for the day that would center around the expected presence of his dad? Why? The difference is the hope.
One has hope and the other is deficient of it in this case. It illuminated the flame in the boy in the story, to make these plans.
Hope can be defined as the feeling of anticipation of the occurrence of a preferred future event. Hope says there is a possibility of an event happening. Hope could be high or low in intensity depending on the degree of possibility of a situation. In other words, applications of hope could range from cases where possibility of a preferred event happening is almost certain, to cases where it is more like a wishful thinking-very low possibility. As in the cases of the boys in the two different scenarios in the illustration above, the absence of hope would be the presence of complete doubt- a state of pessimism- and vice versa. The presence of a high degree of hope outshines the effect of whatever doubt may exist concerning a situation. The reverse is also true.
While a few may disagree, I personally believe hope to be deeply ingrained in the nature of humans. Think about it, who taught you to hope? Hope for a better world is what has evolved humanity to this stage. I believe it to be an intrinsic/innate human instinct. Many may try to dispute my claim, but I believe we all hope- consciously and sometimes subconsciously- in varying situations and magnitudes. Yes, I say this bearing in mind a few pessimistic folks who may say;"no that's a lie." While they may be proactively pessimistic on outcomes of major areas of their lives, they subconsciously practice hope in some subtle areas. In subtle areas like; going through their closet with the hope of finding a particular cloth, or scratching their backs with the hope of relieving an itching sensation. Like it or not, in these cases, hope is at play.
source: bbc.co
THE PLUS SIDE OF HOPE
Hope, a deep-rooted aspect of human life, which encompasses several dimensions, possesses numerous advantages. I made a list of a few here to further give more insight on the scope of hope. They are thus, written below:
Hope is a Catalyst: In the preceding paragraph, hope is likened to fuel that keeps a fire burning. The intensity of the fire is an
indicator of the degree of hope and represents the level of drive and motivation in an individual. The level of motivation further results in action or inaction. A high motivation will translate into action. We can all agree that the fuel that lit the fire of motivation is therefore the root of the action. This fuel is the hope. It is the catalyst, it effected the action. Sticking with the earlier analogy of the two boys stated above, the hope that
the boy in the above stated story had of getting his desired outcome, is, without doubt, the catalyst of the actions he took- planning and making provisions for his dad.Hope is Therapeutic: Happiness has been linked to people who are more hopeful. The joy that stems from picturing the materialization of future events they are expectant of. Happiness does wonders to the minds and bodies of individuals. Studies have also shown that more hopeful people tend recovered faster than their less hopeful counterparts. They see the possibility of them making full recovery. This hope of recovery in turn motivates them keep to doctor's instructions which in effect, prompts their minds and bodies respond to treatment. Hope, has, as a result, kept them in the fight- and brought them victory.
Hope Births More Hope: It goes without saying how we tend to put in effort to actualize our dreams and goals if there exist possibilities of them materializing. Automatically, this effort we put in gives us that nudge towards making them a reality. This work we put into achieving this dream further increases the possibility of that event occurring. It isn't rocket science. For instance, if, for the hope of healthy living and being in great shape, we eat healthy and exercise regularly and continuously, our chances of being healthy and in great body shape increases as well. What do you think this does? It increases the hope we have in having great bodies and being healthy, and the cycle continues. This is an evidence of the saying: "A little hope is all it takes sometimes."
source: dreamstime
THE DOWNSIDE OF HOPE
While hope can be considered a wonderful and effective positive tool overall, there's no denying, as with most things and concepts in life, hope can be quite tricky, and disadvantageous in a couple ways. Below are a few I thought of:
We May Become Complacent: While this may seem conflicting, as I have already stated earlier that hope is a catalyst. Make no mistake, hope is a two edged sword. It works both ways. It could inflict damage on its wielder if not wielded properly. It is a two way street. Who the wielder is, in this case, is the difference maker. While one wielder may take keep his guard up regardless of how high his hope is of getting a desired result, another could just become complacent. Consider two athletes: Athlete A, with a great track record against another; Athlete B, whose records pales in comparison to the first athlete. Evidently and naturally, Athlete A would have high hopes of winning Athlete B. Assuming Athlete A lets this get into his head, complacency may set in, and he may inadvertently lose.
Possibility of Making Moves that Could Backfire on us: As nothing is ever hundred percent certain in life, things could go south. An outcome which seemed almost certain and feasible may never come into fruition. This could deal a big blow to an individual that had made lots of plans that were centered on this expected event becoming a reality in the future. Imagine someone who took a loan on the premise of salary increment that had already been agreed informally with his/her superiors. Then a sudden downturn against the initial projection of the company's economy happens, which results in substantial revenue cutback of the company. In effect, the company can no longer go on with this promise of salary increment and even have to carry out retrenchment of staffs to cut cost. This sudden ill occurrence has done damage to the man. Perhaps, it was his high hopes that spurred him to make moves that have backfired on him.
Possibility of Being Plunged Into a Dark Hole: In some cases where individuals make wrong moves due to the high hopes they had, the repercussions of such actions maybe highly detrimental to that individual. As a corollary of this, they could be plunged to the very 'depths of hell'. Cases where individuals lose everything or end up in grave disappointment, could see them end up in the tight grips of depression and, as a result, other dark vices like drug and alcoholic dependency, or even theft and so on. The degree of loss and personality type in this case, may dictate the level of effect it may have. For some people it's easier to dust themselves and move on, but some, get plunged into the depths of very dark holes.
Knowing that almost everything (if not everything) has its pros and cons, it is normal for something having lots of positive effects to have negative ones as well. While many may see the disadvantages or cons of hope as something that outweighs the pros, others lean towards the opinion that the pros of hope outweigh the cons, and hence, perpetuate its practice. Respecting the fact that everyone has their preference, I personally favour hope over the pessimistic state of trying not to hope. Nonetheless, I believe A proper analysis of the situation and personality types would go a long way in shedding the light on how individuals approach hope. This is important as it helps to reduce risk and its effects. As nothing is certain and could change in life, we should also practice and be acquainted with acceptance as a virtue. Accepting situations for what they are when things do not pan out as we had hoped, and even better, while we hope for something to happen in the future. While this may sound like two negating statements, it is very much possible to achieve. Acceptance of the current situation will keep us grounded and not prompt us to make moves that will backfire on us. If the athlete would accept his current situation, that he has not won yet, even though the odds favoured him, he would put in that work and stay grounded. Same as the man in the example who took out loan, on the premise of high hopes of an increased salary. If the man would accept his current situation of not being able to service the tax, he wouldn't go ahead with that plan. In short, proper evaluation, planning and acceptance is always necessary even when our hopes appear to be high.