Hope - Not asking for advice, just confused.

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I've never understood the view of hope as a positive thing. Surely if you hope for nothing, you'll never be disappointed?

Hope for me is a tool I use to keep myself from giving up.

I only try to apply it's use for things I can realistically see coming true...

I hope my daughter finishes high school, goes to university and learns languages like she wants to.
I hope nothing gets in the way of her dreams.

I have always hoped to understand myself better so I would either quit doing the things I have done and felt bad about, or accept them as part of who I am and quit feeling bad about them.

I do not hope for world peace. I truly do not think it is possible... not by any of the means we have at our disposal today anyway.
Having said that... I do not despair for the future.
We are animals and arguing/fighting/killing is one aspect of being an animal.

I like to do what I can and I appreciate the efforts of others who try to minimize the suffering around the world, but I do not have lofty ideals that we will see the end of war... ever... so I do not apply 'hope' in this area of my life.

A certain amount of optimism is a good thing. Not in the sense of "Everything is always going to be just perfect!" but in the sense of "However much of a disaster it turns out to be, I will get through it in one piece, and laugh about it when I write my memoirs."

Unfortunately, you'll pretty much end up stagnant in life as well.

But surely there's other things to convert into moving forwards than just hope. I mean, without hope, I don't think one would disintigrate into "WHAT DOES IT MATTER?!?! IT'S ALSO SO WORTHLESS...". Maybe there's merit in assuming the worst will happen, but following through with your actions anyway? That way, if the outcome is anything better than total disaster, it's a pleasant surprise. If it's not...well, at least you weren't blindsided.

There is merit in your words, but understand this: A person with absolutely no hope would not follow through with anything. You got to have some hope to convince you there's at least some chance you'll succeed.

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding how fundamental hope is. Sorry.

That's the Buhhdist philosophy, and they are supposively the happiest people in the world.
However, the happiest state, self actualization, can not be maintained. You have to keep doing things to get to that special place. And you cannot accomplish such things without hope.

Hope is leaving your mind open to positive possibilities. It should never lead to disappointment. Expectations create disappointment.

Nobody hopes for nothing.

Nobody says... I hope nothing happens...

they just don't hope.

there's a difference.

so, hope is positive.

lack of hope is negative.

When you live without hope, you're hoping that mindset will protect you from disappointments.