What is Hope?

Photo Courtesy : http://www.mondaymusings.org

What is Hope?

I do not know if you all have wondered about something called hope.  I often wondered about it in my life.  The reason why I had to often think about it is because, I realized that I more often needed it to pass through the difficult phases in life.

When I think back what helped me get through all that I had to, I could point my finger on one thing, that is Hope.  So, I started analyzing it a bit more to learn to keep it by my side more often than I am used to.  To begin with, I started with questions like ‘What is the source of Hope?’.  Where does it generate from?  Who creates it?  How can I have more of it?  How can I make sure of its permanent presence in my life?  As several questions clouded my mind,  I was determined to take all the time needed to find answers to those questions.  These answers could make a big difference in my life… So they were quiet important.

Thinking about the source of Hope, I could see that it could have many sources.  It could originate from my parents, my friends, my colleagues and other acquaintances.  I saw that Hope coming from these sources did give me something to work on, but not to the same extent as I have seen it working in some other situations where I saw some phenomenal results.  So what were those other situations where I saw phenomenal results?  How did I reach those results?  More thinking led me to see that the source of hope in these other situations was none other than self.  I chose to call this ‘Self Hope’.  Then I understood that there is a big difference between the results originating from other sources and self.  When a person learns to practice to be self hopeful, it directly has an impact on the person’s attitude.  When the person’s attitude is loaded with self hope, the person starts to look things differently, the person is more motivated to exhibit the strength required to keep going, to retain the energy required to look for new dimensions of life, to spot the right opportunities and do more.  Self hope motivates the person to not give up.

Why does the source matter?  I figured that when the source is external, it is like an energy drink.  The effect dries out soon when the sugar level goes down.  But when the source is internal, it is like a perennial river.  It has no bounds and it is free flowing.  When I spotted this difference, in all my difficult times, I kept this in mind and worked on having an inner source of hope and real belief that something different is yet to come.  I saw myself more in control, and more in command of what I should be doing next to make that new different thing to happen in my life.

What do you all think of Hope? Did the source of hope matter to you? I would love to hear your experiences.