Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Addicted to Hope?

Hope is a positive thought, an attribute to an idea that helps you keep your chin up when you feel the world around you collapse. Hope is that Ray of Light you see in darkness. It’s the missing piece of every puzzle, that puts everything into perspective and gives you a meaning to your life’s purpose. Faith helps you go places, but it is Hope that provides you companionship during the journey.

I have needed Hope and used Hope many times to survive in situations I’m guaranteed would have killed me inside had I been a pessimist. But is Hope something you can get addicted to? If yes, is being addicted to hope like being addicted to dope? If you are too hopeful and think positive all the time, can you lose touch with reality?
As my midterms approach, I can think of no other example than not performing well in exams. Consider a student who has just failed an exam. Say, a qualifying exam or an entrance exam. Does he give up immediately? No. Life, and parents and family and friends teach us to never give up, collect our intellect and study once more. Why? There is not just the probability, but there is the Hope that you crack it the next time. Fair enough. But what about someone who had one shot at a job interview and blew it? There is Hope that he gets something better. Or something that’s just plain good. What happens then when he doesn’t crack the ‘good’ interview? He hopes for something better or less good than that one. According to how I interpret human psychology, the more he chooses ‘Hope’ over disappointment, the more he lowers his standards. From the awesome company A, he now has to settle for Average. Yes, there are a lot of parameters I have not taken into consideration- he might work really hard to get something better(his Hope was fulfilled), or something equally good(his Hope was fulfilled). Or he might just change his mind, shift his focus, forget about working and become a hermit. Now he has high hopes for humanity and himself and the world in general, and I’m no authority to talk on asceticism.

A simple logic I think should hold true- a feel-good feeling will make you feel good- so you’ll want more of it. Hope, especially when it gives you a reason for its existence, feels very good. You know all is not doomed, there’s still hope. How do you know exactly for how long you should cling to hope? We all know history repeats itself, but I’m not hoping the dinosaurs roam the earth again just so that my friend can have live specimens for her reptile research! I know, being the impractical situation and bizarre thought that it is, that’s where I draw the line. Some people don’t. I have heard of people hoping ghosts exist so that they get to see their loved ones who have passed. That’s when they reach that line between wishing and hoping, and gently jump over to the other side. Having hope when none is necessary is one thing, but people sticking to Hope than Effort just because the former is easier is another. Everyone does it. I have done it. How many times have you used the adjective hopelessly? ‘Hopelessly in love’, ‘hopelessly waiting’(why would you wait if it’s hopeless, anyway?). When I feel myself drifting away from harsh reality in certain situations and have Faith in my Hope, I have to beat myself over the head and tell myself not be in denial.

Think of the last time you hoped something better would come along and you ended up settling for something less. Or the time you hoped and hoped and nothing came of it. Or the time you decided you will never expect anything ever again because you always hope something would come to you and nothing ever does. Have you lost hope now?