Hope is essential to happiness.  It is a faith and trust that good things will happen. It gives us reason to look forward to the future. As Thomas Fuller wrote, "If it were not for hope, the heart would break." Hope is the exact opposite of despair, doubt, and fear. Hope is what keeps us going when problems abound.  Hope medicates misery. 

We should never use hope as a substitute for actions.  We cannot just sit back and hope for the best when we are faced with problems.  We must do everything in our power to improve the situation.  But while we are acting, we should also be hoping that our actions will be fruitful and that our fears are exaggerated.  Hope is to a large extent a way of thinking.  Hope is optimism, whereas, fear and doubt are the products of pessimism. 

When we are optimistic about the future we behave very differently from the pessimist. Hope and optimism serve as stimulants that give us energy and motivation to do everything in our power to provide for a brighter future. And we must never forget that, although many things are beyond our control, we can still play a major role in determining whether or not our hopes and dreams come true .  We must work to improve our lives and the lives of others.  We must remember that what many people consider just plain luck is often the result of hard work.  It has been said that luck is a fine word if we just place a "p" in front of it so it becomes pluck. Hoping and dreaming alone will accomplish very little.  But when we combine them with  effort, they can often make all the difference. As long as we have hope, we have motivation to work.

More than 300 years ago the French moralist, Francois de La Rochefoucauld, wrote, "Hope, deceitful as it is, serves at least to lead us to the end of life along an agreeable road." We should not forget this point.  Many of our hopes may lead to disappointments, and things will not always work out the way we hope they will.  But a life lived in a spirit of hope is so much more pleasant than one lived with constant doubt and fear. 

Our hopes should extend beyond our own personal wishes.  We should have hopes for other people and for humanity in general. If we do, we are far more likely to see many of our hopes materialize than when we restrict our hopes to our individual personal lives.  Hope, like optimism, is something we must cultivate.  It does not always come easily.  And it is especially difficult to cultivate during times following major disappointments or losses.  But it is essential to happiness and may well be one of the chief sources of happiness.                     

Copyright 2014 Allen W. Smith 

NOTE: Comments are welcome and encouraged. 

TB-84—Posted 06/19/2014