THE IDES OF DECEMBER 2019
Aloha;
One of the first things we discover about living is that it requires effort to stay alive. As long as a person has the motivation to survive they are likely to put forward that effort to do so. But since we have a finite amount of energy it is important that we use it to assure our existence as best we can. Which means we must make choices about how we spend our time. And we base those decisions on what we understand of the world around us. Along with our assessment of what it takes to live.
We use many different tools as we make our way through life. While some of them are physical, others are not. Our outlook on life is an example of a mental tool which can be understood but not seen. This viewpoint shapes the way our hope develops. For it holds our beliefs, our imaginings and our wishes, in a single mental image. Yet it is more than just a wish. Because with hope, we make the path to reach the outcome we want to happen. First within our thoughts, then in the world around us.
We also invoke hope to ward off outcomes we don’t want. Since it serves equally well to help us gain or avoid, any goal we choose. From the moment we find out that our needs are not fulfilled, hope comes into play. So these needs drive us as soon as we are born. Therefore our hopes are with us for as long as we live. Because you must be alive, in order to have any. And it can persist as long as you stay that way. As living has requirements; our hope springs from our wants, needs, and desires.
Hope comes from our sense of what is possible. As well as the desires that drive us. It also stems from the self-confidence that we will meet these goals. In spite of evidence that tells us we can’t. Our hope is part of our will to live and our belief that it is right for us to live. When we have nothing else to go on, the promise of hope can still sustain us. As long as hope lasts, it expects to be realized. And while hope lasts, it is not discouraged.
However other people make our hopes stronger when we share them. In fact shared hope lets us do many things. Such as make schools for our children. Or have clean drinking water. Or have a coordinated space program. Even things like researching cures for deadly diseases are only possible because we share common hopes. For it gives us hope that we discover something which benefits us all.
But when we loose hope we have no reason to try any more. Then we are of no benefit or use to ourselves or anyone else. And once our efforts stop, soon after so do we. Therefore hope must always be present no matter what our goals are. If and when we share common hopes, we improve everyone’s chances to get what we need. Which gives us more control over our own survival. So it is important to keep our hopes high and never stop striving.
Respectfully Yours,
J. A. Stubbs, Editor-In-Chief
Forgotten Lore Publishing, llc