There are many things that separate humans from animals, even our closest relatives, the great apes. I have always considered that the most important one of these is hope.
Animals don’t hope. They tolerate, they expect, and sometimes they suffer in silence. But they don’t hope, despite what we might like to think.
For us, hope comes in many ways, at very different levels. We can have everyday hopes. We might hope to win the lottery, or hope that a planned trip can be done in good weather. Some might hope that they will get a phone call from a friend or relative today, whilst others simply hope to have the strength to get out of bed and face the day ahead.
But most of our hoping is very serious. Hope for good health, and long life. Hope to enjoy the benefits of retirement, and hope for the same for those near and dear to us. There is hope that medical treatment will work; alleviating suffering, or prolonging life. Hoping that fertility treatment will bring the child that is desired, or that the morning after pill stops that same thing happening.
In the modern world of social media, some hope for popularity, a notion of success based on contacts or likes. We hope that people find us attractive, amusing, and want to be close to us. And most people hope to find love. Not just any love, but true love, everlasting, fairy-tale love. And if that goes wrong, hope gets us through, and allows us to continue to hope that it will eventually be found.
Parents hope for better lives for their children. They hope that the future will bring happiness to their offspring, and make it all worthwhile. Then those children in turn hope to do well in exams, find a good job, and continue the cycle of humanity.
Many people hope for others. They hope that society will evolve to be fairer, and allow the same opportunities for all. They hope to see disease eradicated, animal extiction stopped, and climate change reversed. They spend their lives hoping selflessly, asking nothing for themselves.
Everyone hopes. Wherever they live, whatever language they speak, however rich or poor their condition in life, they hope. Billionaires hope for more billions, and people living on the streets hope for something to eat, and a dry place to sleep. Artists hope for recognition, writers hope for publication. Teachers hope that their students will learn something, and soldiers hope that it won’t be them who is killed or wounded.
Religious people hope that the afterlife they believe in will actually happen, and atheists secretly hope that too.
Hope is constant. Every day, even when we are not aware of it, we hope. The word itself has become so common, it is easy to see why its importance may have become trivialised. We all say things like “Hope you have a nice time”, “Hope the traffic isn’t too bad on your way home”, or “Hope to see you again soon”. But that is just a word, and not real ‘Hope’.
Hope might well be the one thing that keeps us going in adversity. Hope stops us walking away, living our lives under clouds of depression, and allows us to carry on with the mundane, with the prospect of something better on the horizon. Hope keeps us balanced, and in some cases, keeps us sane.
Without hope, there is only reality.
Let’s all keep hoping.
Perspective 💙
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Thanks, Aparna.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hope is what keeps the future before us and allows us to seek the assured expectation of what is to come ⭐️
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Thanks, WC. And good luck with your new blog.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thank you very much for this post, it really resonated with what I have been thinking about recently. I think the negative stories we hear from the news influence our perception of hope which often becomes lost. I have aimed to address this is in my blog by creating a section called ‘Why I love…’ which is where I try to highlight some of the great things happening in our world. If you would like to check it out and let me know your thoughts, that would be amazing 🙂
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Thanks for your comment, Simon. I will happily check out your blog.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’m obviously not the only one to enjoy this essay. Apparently realistic optimism is good for our health, happiness and longevity. Is hope a specific form of that general orientation to life?
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I think about it all the time, Rachel. When nothing else is left, we cling to hope.
In human life, that is all there really is. It is when hope is shattered, that people finally give up.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I mostly just hope we’re not going to end humanity in the next 20 years down to pure greed.
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I think you can rest easy, Abbi. We had some much closer shaves in my youth, with The Berlin Airlift, and The Cuban Missile Crisis. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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one of your best essays yet.
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Thanks very much, Michele. I am happy that you liked it.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Great posting Pete! Best wishes, Michael
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Thanks, Michael. Keep hoping!
Best wishes, Pete.
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You too, Pete1 Thank you! Have a nice rest of the evening. Michael
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From teaching Holocaust studies, I know that hope is the only thing that keeps you alive when your body disintegrates into nothing. Hope is what makes humans great!
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Thanks for your thoughts, Cindy. Hope has certainly kept me going through the difficult times during my own life.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Fabulous post, Pete. Hope is everything.
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Thanks, Jennie. When all else fails us, hope is what’s left.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Absolutely!
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Waxing philosophical…..I like it! chuq
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I could fill blog pages with this sort of stuff every day, chuq. I don’t want to bore everyone though. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I know what you mean…I use to wax political myself and felt that I was talking to myself……chuq
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Very thoughtful post Pete! I agree with you that hope is a very important human attribute. Hope for today, hope for tomorrow, and yes, hope in the afterlife for those who believe. 🙂
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Thanks, Susanne. My mind is packed with stuff like this, and every now and then it just has to get out. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Maybe expectations are based on reason and hope is beyond that? And hope was at the bottom of Pandora’s fabled box, the only thing left after all the bad stuff flew out.
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Thanks, Audrey. Something good in the bottom of that box, and we should all remember that. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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🙂
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indeed, let’s keep hoping. hope is looking forward and looking forward to something good. let us all work on that – something good. 🙂
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We have to all keep hoping that this is not how it has to be, Wilma.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I am glad that you focused on hope. The news seems filled with doom, more than I can ever remember including during the height of the Cold War.
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News loves gloom and doom, Elizabeth. It makes people watch, sells newspapers and advertising, and keeps populations subdued.
Hope is what we have to counter that.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Absolutely. Thanks.
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My hope (maybe I’m dreaming) is that people will become more tolerant of one another and learn to appreciate differences instead of being fearful of them.
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Dream or not, that’s a good ‘Hope’, Pete. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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How does hope differ from want? If not, then animals seem to want. Warmest regards, Theo
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I think hope definitely differs from want. At least as I see it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I have thought about this a lot. At some point it becomes a bit difficult for one to hope for one’s self–one uses up things for which to hope…
Warmest regards, Theo
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Perhaps that’s when some people begin to hope for others instead, Theo?
Best wishes, Pete.
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Again. Perhaps not
Warmest regards Theo
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I hope the sun might come back!
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We had it today, Mary. Exceptionally hot, and still 20 C at 10:30 pm. Of course, it is set to break down and rain tomorrow. 😦
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s 12 C here just now! I should have known at Easter it was a big mistake to hunt out the shorts and tee shirts. At least I didn’t pack away the winter jumpers.
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I was hoping you’d touch upon this subject.
By the way, did you know that Hope Lange starred in “Shipwrecked,” a 1966 one-hour TV episode in the anthology series, “Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre” hosted by Bob Hope?
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I have to say that I expected a lot more Hope puns than that, David. You’re slacking! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Very thought-provoking post!
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Thanks, Becky. If I can provoke thought, that makes me happy. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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“Animals don’t hope” – How do we know?
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Just my personal opinion, Pit. Nobody will ever really know, I concede that. However, I remain convinced that hope is a uniquely human emotion. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Maybe you’re right, there, Pete. I’m still thinking about the difference between “expect” and “hope” you mentioned.
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Thanks, Pit. I have always thought that ‘hope’ requires more imagination and reasoning than animals are capable of. But I could still be wrong. 🙂
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“Religious people hope that the afterlife they believe in will actually happen, and atheists secretly hope that too.” 🤣🤣 made me chuckle!
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Glad you had a chuckle. 🙂 We all need more chuckles.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Then there are those of us who hope if the religious people are right they are at least wrong about the hell part….
Warmest regards, Ed
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Oh no, that’s where all the fun people will be 🤣
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My 7th grade French teacher thought that when we read Dante. I know she planned to be there
Warmest regards Ed
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You have given me much to consider this morning. I think most of my hopes now are for my children and grandchildren and humanity in general. I guess we all hope for good health for us and our friends and family, but it does take action, too.
It brings to mind a verse about hopes and wishes, but I cannot remember enough of it. Maybe I should hope for a better memory.
Great thought-provoking post, Pete.
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Thanks, Maggie. My head is full of such things all the time. It helps to get them out. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Let’s all keep hoping, indeed…. I
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We also need to put forth some effort to bring those hopes to fruition as well. Just ‘hoping’ won’t create anything.
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Ah, you have arrived at the very essence of the dilemma, GP. 🙂
Hope is what we do when we are unable to change things by other means. It is something intangible that helps us to bear the inevitable. At least that’s how I see it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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You have a point.
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I never really thought about it quite like this, Pete, but you are right, hope is a great thing. Super post.
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Thanks, Robbie. This is the sort of thing my head is stuffed full of! Glad you liked it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Amen the that Pete 🙂
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Cheers mate. 🙂
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Hope, the one thing we all have in common. I do believe my dog hopes I will feed her every day!
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I would suggest that Dot expects rather than hopes to be fed every day, Darlene. If you forget, she will go and kill something to eat instead. 🙂 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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That is true. She was a camino dog before she was rescued.
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I looked that up. I didn’t know about ‘Camino dogs’. 🙂
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