Hope.... is it one of the most powerful words in the English language?

[The Funketeer]

That's a fairly self centered way of looking at hope though. Sure I could sit around and hope my life will get better instead of doing things to make that happen but I can also have hope for things that are out of my control. I can hope for the safety of others who are far away or for the happiness of my friends and family. I can hope that my children will be safe and happy when they're not with me. There's nothing I can aspire to do to make those things happen but I can still have hope which is a far more positive feeling than indifference or fear.

Question: How do you know if the hope you are engaging in is false while you are engaging in it?

Answer: You don't.

Hope is passive. It's better to aspire to things, as opposed to hope for things. You're life sucks? Aspire to make it better. Make a list of things that need to change and improve. Do one little thing each day off of the list. After some period of time, look back and see if things are better. Are they? If so, good. If not, make another list. Or choose another route.

But having hope that things will get better? I mean, I can sit around here and hope that a supermodel will fall in love with me, I suppose. It's never going to happen, though, so why expend the energy and set myself up for defeat in the end?

It's like the lottery. I am a supporter of the lottery because, at least in my state, it is very important to our education funding (which is a really, really sad fact in it's own right, but that's a different thread). But in reality? You have a better chance of being hit by lighting -- twice -- in the same day -- than of winning the lottery.

Hope is passive. That's the bottom line. In the end, having hope is only setting yourself up for even deeper problems down the road.

Aspiration, at least, is active.

ETA: I will say this, though: despite my feelings on the subject, I've always thought that "Hope" was one of the most beautiful names.

[t.c.johnson]

All the Hollywood wannabees who spend their lives waiting tables hoping for that big break that only happens to one in a thousand.

I think a lot of it has to do with managing expectations.

I know a lot of people in college who wanted to be actors (I went to an arts school) and you know, most of them are successful.

You probably never heard of any of them, but they are able to support themselves solely through acting. Most of them are through community theaters and off, off broadway.

They make things happen.

ANother good example is Tom Stillwell. he wanted to be a comic book writer and he made it happen.


Just saying, the people who think that being a star is more important than the whole process of being an actor....their problem isn't that they are hoping too much, the problem is that they are being dumbasses.

[Karen El]

Just saying, the people who think that being a star is more important than the whole process of being an actor....their problem isn't that they are hoping too much, the problem is that they are being dumbasses.

It's true, but the media does have a way of managing expectations with their fairytale stories of success that an awful lot of people who haven't really investigated whatever it is they aspire to don't have much comprehension of how difficult it is. For example, all those teenagers that form a band with the expectation of becoming rock stars, whose plan is something like:

1) Form band
2) make hit record
3) Success!!

eg. Wyld Stallyns. Only without the time machine.

[Morrison_Lad]

That's a fairly self centered way of looking at hope though. Sure I could sit around and hope my life will get better instead of doing things to make that happen but I can also have hope for things that are out of my control. I can hope for the safety of others who are far away or for the happiness of my friends and family. I can hope that my children will be safe and happy when they're not with me. There's nothing I can aspire to do to make those things happen but I can still have hope which is a far more positive feeling than indifference or fear.

And those ideas would be just so supernatural.

I hope that Miranda Kerr will divorce Orlando Bloom, and come to my house asking for sex. There. Does that make sense?

[ZimMan2]

First thing I thought of:


First time I read that was in my most recent bout of depression. Damn good timing.

[The Funketeer]

And those ideas would be just so supernatural.

I hope that Miranda Kerr will divorce Orlando Bloom, and come to my house asking for sex. There. Does that make sense?

No but that's only because she's clearly out of your league. Reduce the scenario to something more meaningful and far more likely to happen and I'd feel confident that you might feel hope as well.

You're criticizing hope as a replacement for taking control of your life and making things happen for yourself and that criticism is justified but it's not the only time people experience hope.

[Morrison_Lad]

No but that's only because she's clearly out of your league. Reduce the scenario to something more meaningful and far more likely to happen and I'd feel confident that you might feel hope as well.

You're criticizing hope as a replacement for taking control of your life and making things happen for yourself and that criticism is justified but it's not the only time people experience hope.

What the hell is that supposed to meant?

[CutterMike]

Just ask yourself: If Zeus put all of the evils in the world in Pandora's Box as a punishment for mankind, why was Hope included?

As I see it, it's because the possibility that there **MIGHT** be relief from suffering makes that suffering all the more poignant. He not only sent all pain and torment, he made sure that humankind couldn't sink into dull apathy, but rather would be always aware of their lot. In many ways, hope can be the greatest evil of all, and including hope was the fillip that raised Zeus's act of petty vindictiveness to one of true sadism.

[Ziggy Stardust]

I understand that to sit at home and just hope for everything, it's destructive.

But, a life without hope..... sheesh! CutterMike, your example is very depressing. Sure, the world has evils, despair, destructive forces beyond our control, but if we do not work towards and hope for a better future for ourselves and those we love, then what's the point?

[The Funketeer]

What the hell is that supposed to meant?

It means that you limit your definition of hope to people wishing for things that they could possibly achieve if they exerted some effort and initiative in order to make your point when there are plenty of circumstances where hope would be a reasonable feeling to have.