HOPE

Hope permeates our lives at every hour and minute of the day; we live with and in hope, even though we sometimes meet with disappointment when our hopes fall short of their realization. We hope for good health and happiness in the lives of our families, friends, and others. We hope for peace in the world, even though politicians thrust us into wars to boost their ratings and to save their careers at the expense of our lives while they stay home safe and protected. We hope for fewer natural disasters-tornadoes, droughts, fires, and floods. We are always trying to keep up hope in the face of the failures and tragedies of life and living. We hope for frivolous things, too. So hope is a ubiquitous concept that we employ all the time without ever stopping to reflect on its role in shaping our lives. In this book I discuss the nature of hope and the role of desire, belief, and optimism in shaping our hopes. I also discuss the phenomenology of hope, what it feels like to entertain hope. I then discuss the role of false hopes and self-deception in contributing to, and setting up the individual for hopelessness and despair, the antitheses of hope. I close with the observation that there is always hope for a better world and life beyond that of frustration, hopelessness, and despair. Sunrise, daylight, and hope will always follow the gloom and darkness of hopelessness and despair. So we should never give up hope or give in to despair in the face of whatever difficulties may be challenging us in life, because there is always hope for a way up and out of the dark pit of hopelessness and despair that lead to failure in life, but we have to work hard for the realization of that hope.