Hope
April Ambles: Reflections of a Philosophical Forager — Day 13
It has been said that hope is a futile friend, that in hoping something will happen, we are setting ourselves up for failure, that in hoping, we are distancing ourselves from that which we desire.
Be that as it may, let’s delve into hope for just a moment. Hope is defined not as an emotion, but as a state of being. It is bigger than our minds, wider than anything we can define. It is that bubbly wellspring that keeps us going in the dark. It is intangible, and yet we reach out for it at all moments of the day.
We hope the sun will shine for the ballgame, that school will finish early, that there will be no traffic jams on the way to work, that someone else will remember to take out the garbage. We also hope for the right partner to come along, for grandma to get well, for our children to stay out of trouble, for the world to stay right-side-up long enough for them to have a chance at happiness.
In fact, hope is an almost constant state, without which we would not know how to navigate. Who might we be without hope?
For more amblings from the author, check out Child of the Woods: An Appalachian Odyssey.
