Most people see hope as as on/off switch. Either you have it or you don’t.
But it is not that simple. It is more like degrees in an oven. There is an OFF switch, which is the state of all hope being lost.
There are cases where this may be both true and known, as when someone is in hospice.
But there are many more cases when it is impossible to know if all hope is lost. And in that case, the proper course is to assume the best.
I do have hope, though I likely don’t define it the way most do.
I truly don’t know what the outcome will be, and will not live long enough to see for myself.
But— if I assume it is hopeless, then the best course is to grab what I can and take up drinking and fast food.
And I simply can’t accept that. It violates the rule I stated above. For, in this case, I can not know that all hope is lost.
So, not knowing, I must ACT as I would if I knew for certain it would make a difference.
Because anything else is a self fulfilling prophecy and that is not an acceptable outcome.
We have done it— put all life on earth at risk.
And it is up to us, all of us, to undo it.
My hope does not reside in certainty of success, but in doing what needs doing even in the face of uncertainty.
Yes, we are in grave trouble. No, we are not yet defeated.
Hope is a thing with feathers
That perches in your soul
And sings a tune without the words
And never stops at all.
-Emily Dickinson.
I memorize that decades ago when I was still in my teens. And they may have gotten a few of the words wrong, but the sentiment is the same. We must live in hope and dwell in possibility. 🔆