Hope

For a long time I have struggled with the meaning of hope. What does it mean to be hopeful? Does it mean you have lost all faith in something, and all you have left is to hope? Is it something that can only happen when life is out of your control?

Why is the term used when people are dying and can't be cured? Or used as a last resort? Upon consulting the dictionary definition of hope, I am still equally confused. Hope can be used as a noun, adjective, and verb.

When I try and think about how I myself would use the word hope in a sentence, the only one I can think of is: "I hope so." When I want something to happen that I know can't I use the word wish. When I wish something, I know that it won't happen because well, it's a wish. I wonder if you could hope a wish will come true? Probably.

Hope to me I think ultimately means (unless you are using in the context of the 'wish' scenario), that you aren't engaging to make the change so you end up hoping about it. Ie, you're writing a paper that you HOPE to get an A on. No, if you do the work (all things being equal), you will get the grade you deserve. No hope necessary. Once the paper is said and done and handed back and you don't get that A, you are now in wishing territory again. "I wish I would have worked harder." "I wish the TA wasn't such a hard marker." etccc. The paper is done, so now the only thing you can do is wish, not hope that next time you'll do better. If you work harder next time, you probably will do better, no hoping necessary.


I feel like I've rambled on for quite sometime about this, and I'm still not sure how I feel about the concept of hope and how it fits into our lives.