Hope 2

Hope.  It seems we all have it.  When a baby cries for a feed it may not know it, but it has a hope or expectation that its cry will be responded to.  As I grow up it is with hopes and dreams.  I often do particular courses at school based on them.
That does not mean things always turn out as I have them planned.  Three of us at school did ancient history and avoided maths.  All three of us ended up in maths-based activities.
Still to me that matters less then living in hope.  I like what Michelle Obama said “you may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.”
I do not know if what I think fits within an accepted framework but it seems to me those who suicide often have an inverted hope.  They often seem to think that being “out if the way” things will be better.  In every case I have ever heard, things are made worse, not better.
It is such a pity when help is not sort.  People want to help.  The response to the bush fires shows that.  But no-one will help if they do not know.  Shame on me if I know and do nothing.  I heard of a guy in New York who passed away at his office desk.  It was three days before he was discovered.
Care is a doing word.  It is not just a feeling.  It is not just empathy.  It is perhaps needing to get down and dirty.  Never pleasant but always rewarding. 
There seems to be a belief that the brain can cause all sorts of problems.  It occurred to me this morning it is not just the brain but what is in it that can cause problems.  I am big on “just because I believe something does not make it true.” I believe the old computer adage, “garbage in, garbage out.”  If my mind is full of self-doubt and feelings of worthlessness, then I will act on that.  If on the other hand I concentrate on hope, however small it may start, it will grow. 
There are disappointments along the way for all.  I love how Martin Luther King Jnr. put it “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” Everyone faces disappointments.  When shared they are halved.  Even when failure is a stumbling stone for me it can be a stepping-stone if I let it.  Sounds like a platitude but it has worked for me.  It is better to ask for help if I feel I need it then for my stumbling stone to be the end of the story.
I think Desmond Tutu put it best when he said “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”