Nothing left to hope for

We usually group hope with the good stuff, unlike anger or sadness... but doesn't hope actually trigger those negative feelings in the first place?
Isn't hope just what keeps us constantly looking toward the future instead of staying put?
Sure, there are those rough patches where hope feels like your only lifeline, but maybe that's a trap. Shouldn't we be focusing on living in the moment?
I honestly think a single genuine smile right now is worth way more than any amount of hope. We tend to miss all the little blessings because we’re too busy chasing "what if."
So, where does hope even come from? Is it just pure desire?

If we look at those four fundamental truths about suffering, wouldn't it make more sense to just let go of hope entirely?

William Williams27 said:We usually group hope with the good stuff, unlike anger or sadness... but doesn't hope actually trigger those negative feelings in the first place?
Isn't hope just what keeps us constantly looking toward the future instead of staying put?
Sure, there are those rough patches where hope feels like your only lifeline, but maybe that's a trap. Shouldn't we be focusing on living in the moment?
I honestly think a single genuine smile right now is worth way more than any amount of hope. We tend to miss all the little blessings because we’re too busy chasing "what if."
So, where does hope even come from? Is it just pure desire?

If we look at those four fundamental truths about suffering, wouldn't it make more sense to just let go of hope entirely?

Look, hope basically stems from the same mental machinery as paranoia—it's just the brain running simulations of future scenarios. When you mix those simulations with actual emotion, you get this messy cocktail of stuff like hope, fear, or paranoia. Hope is really just the expectation that things are going to turn out okay. Because of that, you can't just ditch it; it's baked into our basic survival instinct. It's like a lion stalking an antelope; he's operating on the assumption that the hunt will actually work out. That's hope in its rawest form.

William Williams27 said:We usually group hope with the good stuff, unlike anger or sadness... but doesn't hope actually trigger those negative feelings in the first place?
Isn't hope just what keeps us constantly looking toward the future instead of staying put?
Sure, there are those rough patches where hope feels like your only lifeline, but maybe that's a trap. Shouldn't we be focusing on living in the moment?
I honestly think a single genuine smile right now is worth way more than any amount of hope. We tend to miss all the little blessings because we’re too busy chasing "what if."
So, where does hope even come from? Is it just pure desire?

If we look at those four fundamental truths about suffering, wouldn't it make more sense to just let go of hope entirely?

I wouldn't say that's quite hope; I think those are just high expectations, which are what truly drive those negative emotions. I don't entirely agree with bluebison70 either, who suggests that hope is simply expecting a positive outcome. To my mind, hope is more akin to a sense of faith in a future positive result, and I really wouldn't want to conflate faith with mere expectation. An expectation carries a certain probability of being met, so when it inevitably fails, it naturally leads to some level of disappointment. Hope, on the other hand—if you view it as a form of faith—is something that feels almost indestructible.

Chloe Smith11 said:I wouldn't say that's quite hope; I think those are just high expectations, which are what truly drive those negative emotions. I don't entirely agree with bluebison70 either, who suggests that hope is simply expecting a positive outcome. To my mind, hope is more akin to a sense of faith in a future positive result, and I really wouldn't want to conflate faith with mere expectation. An expectation carries a certain probability of being met, so when it inevitably fails, it naturally leads to some level of disappointment. Hope, on the other hand—if you view it as a form of faith—is something that feels almost indestructible.

Faith, hope, and love... they're really the three core pillars of Christian values. They always seem to go hand in hand, and I don't think you can really pull them apart and look at them individually.

We hope for things—but what exactly? Eternal life, I suppose. Hope isn't really looking back at the past (like hoping World War II wouldn't happen, which is just... absurd), and it's not about the present moment either (like hoping I am right here, right now). It's about the future. It ranges from the everyday stuff—hoping I pass my finals, get a raise at work, or find someone to marry—all the way up to the hope for life after death.

bluebison70 said:Faith, hope, and love... they're really the three core pillars of Christian values. They always seem to go hand in hand, and I don't think you can really pull them apart and look at them individually.

We hope for things—but what exactly? Eternal life, I suppose. Hope isn't really looking back at the past (like hoping World War II wouldn't happen, which is just... absurd), and it's not about the present moment either (like hoping I am right here, right now). It's about the future. It ranges from the everyday stuff—hoping I pass my finals, get a raise at work, or find someone to marry—all the way up to the hope for life after death.

Why can't they be looked at separately?

bluebison70 said:Faith, hope, and love... they're really the three core pillars of Christian values. They always seem to go hand in hand, and I don't think you can really pull them apart and look at them individually.

We hope for things—but what exactly? Eternal life, I suppose. Hope isn't really looking back at the past (like hoping World War II wouldn't happen, which is just... absurd), and it's not about the present moment either (like hoping I am right here, right now). It's about the future. It ranges from the everyday stuff—hoping I pass my finals, get a raise at work, or find someone to marry—all the way up to the hope for life after death.

I think that makes zero sense.

bluebison70 said:Faith, hope, and love... they're really the three core pillars of Christian values. They always seem to go hand in hand, and I don't think you can really pull them apart and look at them individually.

We hope for things—but what exactly? Eternal life, I suppose. Hope isn't really looking back at the past (like hoping World War II wouldn't happen, which is just... absurd), and it's not about the present moment either (like hoping I am right here, right now). It's about the future. It ranges from the everyday stuff—hoping I pass my finals, get a raise at work, or find someone to marry—all the way up to the hope for life after death.

The whole point of life is being driven by the desire for something better.

It feels different to say, "I'm eating bread, it's fine, I won't be hungry, and if I get some steak later, even better,"
rather than saying, "More bread, I hope there's some steak one day."

To me, there's a huge difference there.

Chloe Smith11 said:I wouldn't say that's quite hope; I think those are just high expectations, which are what truly drive those negative emotions. I don't entirely agree with bluebison70 either, who suggests that hope is simply expecting a positive outcome. To my mind, hope is more akin to a sense of faith in a future positive result, and I really wouldn't want to conflate faith with mere expectation. An expectation carries a certain probability of being met, so when it inevitably fails, it naturally leads to some level of disappointment. Hope, on the other hand—if you view it as a form of faith—is something that feels almost indestructible.

Wait, so hope isn't an expectation?

So what exactly is hope then?

everything is just subjective reality, I guess 🙂

William Williams27 said:Wait, so hope isn't an expectation?

So what exactly is hope then?

I believe I’ve actually addressed all of those points in the subsequent sections of my previous post. It might be worth revisiting that entire thread to get the full picture.

Chloe Smith11 said:I wouldn't say that's quite hope; I think those are just high expectations, which are what truly drive those negative emotions. I don't entirely agree with bluebison70 either, who suggests that hope is simply expecting a positive outcome. To my mind, hope is more akin to a sense of faith in a future positive result, and I really wouldn't want to conflate faith with mere expectation. An expectation carries a certain probability of being met, so when it inevitably fails, it naturally leads to some level of disappointment. Hope, on the other hand—if you view it as a form of faith—is something that feels almost indestructible.

So, what's the actual difference between faith and expectation besides how indestructible hope is?
Isn't it actually harder because we tend to want the stuff that's way tougher to get?

William Williams27 said:We usually group hope with the good stuff, unlike anger or sadness... but doesn't hope actually trigger those negative feelings in the first place?
Isn't hope just what keeps us constantly looking toward the future instead of staying put?
Sure, there are those rough patches where hope feels like your only lifeline, but maybe that's a trap. Shouldn't we be focusing on living in the moment?
I honestly think a single genuine smile right now is worth way more than any amount of hope. We tend to miss all the little blessings because we’re too busy chasing "what if."
So, where does hope even come from? Is it just pure desire?

If we look at those four fundamental truths about suffering, wouldn't it make more sense to just let go of hope entirely?

Hmm. So, deep down, are you an optimist or a pessimist?
Take a long, hard look at yourself and you'll find the answer.

William Williams27 said:Wait, so hope isn't an expectation?

So what exactly is hope then?

Hope is a total heartbreaker...

William Williams27 said:We usually group hope with the good stuff, unlike anger or sadness... but doesn't hope actually trigger those negative feelings in the first place?
Isn't hope just what keeps us constantly looking toward the future instead of staying put?
Sure, there are those rough patches where hope feels like your only lifeline, but maybe that's a trap. Shouldn't we be focusing on living in the moment?
I honestly think a single genuine smile right now is worth way more than any amount of hope. We tend to miss all the little blessings because we’re too busy chasing "what if."
So, where does hope even come from? Is it just pure desire?

If we look at those four fundamental truths about suffering, wouldn't it make more sense to just let go of hope entirely?

I don't think sadness always has to be this terrifying, overwhelming thing... 🙂 there’s a certain beautiful melancholy in it sometimes, a sense of depth or even a quiet longing, a warmth that can feel like a low, glowing ember deep inside you...
and I feel the same way about anger, because not all anger is blinding or destructive or harmful... occasionally, it carries a spark that helps you pinpoint exactly what the problem is and gives you the courage to speak up more freely.
Hope, on the other hand, is always tied to the things we truly care about, and it shows up within that uncertainty, perhaps representing a perspective where everything remains open, reaching out toward that light which keeps our energy alive.
While I tend to view expectations as something more directed and passive—like a pre-set stage waiting to be filled, which is why failing to meet them hurts so much—hope is that thing that constantly reinvents itself as a raw intensity and just keeps going...

Maybe I’d rather describe it as a kind of beam that draws directly from our hearts (especially when it takes over 🙂) and projects that intensity outward... which might be why people say that hope is the very last thing to flicker out.

Isn't hope the very thing that keeps us looking forward?

That feeling that something wonderful might actually happen... or the idea that what we have will last forever... it’s beautiful. How could anyone live without hope? I don't know any person—hell, even an animal—that doesn't hope to get what they want. People who give up on life are just those who lost their hope. Even if that bright future is just a dream, those of us still walking this earth live for that hope... Just look at love. After a bad breakup, you feel crushed, thinking you'll never find "the one" again... but then someone new comes along and you love them even more than the last, simply because you never stopped believing in people and a better tomorrow...

Nothing works quite like religion—it’s basically just an opiate for the masses.
It helps you get through the day, I guess.
But at the same time, it keeps you too paralyzed to actually step up and do something right now.
So you just end up spinning your wheels in circles.

William Williams27 said:We usually group hope with the good stuff, unlike anger or sadness... but doesn't hope actually trigger those negative feelings in the first place?
Isn't hope just what keeps us constantly looking toward the future instead of staying put?
Sure, there are those rough patches where hope feels like your only lifeline, but maybe that's a trap. Shouldn't we be focusing on living in the moment?
I honestly think a single genuine smile right now is worth way more than any amount of hope. We tend to miss all the little blessings because we’re too busy chasing "what if."
So, where does hope even come from? Is it just pure desire?

If we look at those four fundamental truths about suffering, wouldn't it make more sense to just let go of hope entirely?

Yeah, I also wanted to add that having hope doesn't inherently mean you're missing out on life—it's not like you're hoping for one thing while your actual life just sits on pause waiting for it to happen...

No, because even when things are at their absolute worst, people can still live fully—whether they have hope or not—and they can still experience everything you call "the present" and find joy in those tiny details, including the value of a simple smile which, honestly, feels like it breathes life back into you even when your world has been stripped down to nothing but pure survival.
To hold onto hope while just sitting there with your hands folded, totally oblivious to everything around you, that's something else entirely... but that isn't really about hope or what hope does, it's mostly just about the person themselves.

Quincy:

I grew up believing that being okay with your own company is a superpower—and honestly, that mindset still carries me through today. Margaret Drabble

just waiting... hoping things get better..?!

So, that Quincy you shared from Margaret Drabble above is honestly just beautiful.

I don't think it’s really about sitting around waiting for things to get better, but more about those stretches of time where you’re just alone with yourself, which is something we all need deep down every once in a while.

I honestly took this quote as being pretty ironic.

She spends her whole life just patiently waiting in solitude—and the payoff? She's still alone.
The quote comes from the novel *The Crucible*, where you follow this woman in her mid-twenties—she’s beautiful, finishing up a PhD in literature—but she just can't catch a break in her love life (like, at all), even though she’s always dreamed of it. Most of the book she's a virgin, then there's this one brief encounter that leads to a child, but after that... nothing, really, until the end of her life.

It's an incredible book, highly recommend.

Though, if we're being real, sometimes you just can't survive without a little hope.

There's also that beautiful song "Hope" by Gabby Novak—it's about that specific kind of hope that grows out of a quiet sense of happiness and that feeling of endless possibilities life occasionally throws your way.

bluetiger13 said:I honestly took this quote as being pretty ironic.

She spends her whole life just patiently waiting in solitude—and the payoff? She's still alone.
The quote comes from the novel *The Crucible*, where you follow this woman in her mid-twenties—she’s beautiful, finishing up a PhD in literature—but she just can't catch a break in her love life (like, at all), even though she’s always dreamed of it. Most of the book she's a virgin, then there's this one brief encounter that leads to a child, but after that... nothing, really, until the end of her life.

It's an incredible book, highly recommend.

Though, if we're being real, sometimes you just can't survive without a little hope.

There's also that beautiful song "Hope" by Gabby Novak—it's about that specific kind of hope that grows out of a quiet sense of happiness and that feeling of endless possibilities life occasionally throws your way.

So, context really is everything, 🙂 though I suppose that sentence could totally work on its own too; it's just that the meaning shifts a little bit when you aren't reading the full novel and knowing the actual story behind it.

Regarding Gabby and her poem (that bit about the soft light and the mountain cabin)... 🙂yeah, it's exactly as you described it.

Kenneth Ross10 said:Isn't hope the very thing that keeps us looking forward?

That feeling that something wonderful might actually happen... or the idea that what we have will last forever... it’s beautiful. How could anyone live without hope? I don't know any person—hell, even an animal—that doesn't hope to get what they want. People who give up on life are just those who lost their hope. Even if that bright future is just a dream, those of us still walking this earth live for that hope... Just look at love. After a bad breakup, you feel crushed, thinking you'll never find "the one" again... but then someone new comes along and you love them even more than the last, simply because you never stopped believing in people and a better tomorrow...

🙂