The Meaning Of Hope: Humanity, Dreams, and Destiny

Hope is a longing, a wish, a yearning, tempered by expectation and absolute trust. And it’s an indispensable part of being human.

"Hope is the dream of a waking man"

-Aristotle-

But hope is about the future, not the past. It reminds us not to dwell on what's behind, but on what lies ahead. The meaning of hope is life itself, and the living of it.

"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."

-Desmond Tutu-

Moreover, hope is human, a fundamental and universal aspect of the human experience. Hope is at our core. It’s the centrifugal force that takes us from birth to death, perhaps even beyond.

The Meaning of Hope

Expectation is central to the word "hope" in dictionary definitions, but the archaic definition —a feeling of trust —is perhaps the most descriptive. Because the whole point of hope is to trust, to believe absolutely, that some particular thing will happen at some point in the future.

Hope is an optimistic mindset, a tiny spark, a longing expressed, sometimes quietly in our minds. Yet mostly, we can’t help but hope, even in the darkest moments, there’s a tiny seed of hope that drives us forward.

It's when we lose hope, when suffering and sadness overwhelm us, that the meaning of our life often seems futile, yet it's the suffering that gives life meaning. The human will to survive, despite- and sometimes because of- suffering.

The expectation of a positive future, which serves as a vital source of strength during suffering, is generally accompanied by fear and challenges. Hope carries us through suffering, ultimately catalyzing growth, a deeper understanding of life, and more authentic relationships as our perspectives and personalities evolve.

"Once you choose hope, anything's possible."

-Christopher Reeve-

But is hope really a choice?

Hope Is Human

Some animals, particularly vertebrates, experience emotions that are future-oriented and could be considered hope. If you have ever seen a video of an elephant trying to revive a dead infant, or desperately flag down humans to help rescue a trapped baby, there can surely be no doubt that the elephant mother, acting in fear, has hope for her offspring's survival. Without hope, saving the baby seems pointless. The mother's hope is stronger than her fear of humans.

Similarly, watching a lion or other predator chase its prey, we secretly hope the prey will escape, while hoping the lion will find sustenance to survive. But for the buck, being chased, desperately darting through the bush and kicking back where it can, hope for survival fuels the adrenaline it needs to escape. It hopes to live another day.

Humans, too, hope to survive, except their hopes go further- they hope for joy, good health, meaningful connections with others, and a successful life, although each one's definition of success is entirely different. But humans, too, hope to live another day, another year, another decade or six, and live well.

It's the expectation that sets humans apart from animals - their hopes are simpler, it seems, less cluttered and complex. There's little research on animal hopes and dreams, but I have never seen an animal amass billions of anything. Squirrels have the foresight to stockpile enough acorns for the winter, not for the next ten thousand years.

Human hope, on the other hand, can easily get tainted by an entirely different, almost exclusively human feature- greed.

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed."

-Mahatma Gandhi-

Hope As A Human Right: The Right To Hope

The ‘right to hope’ now features in the European Court of Human Rights. In an article published in the Human Rights Law Review, the argument is raised that hope itself is being constructed as an individual responsibility. It was raised in criminal law on whether a life prisoner can be said to have any hope of release, with arguments that, with no prospects of release, the prisoner has no motivation to be rehabilitated.

And, because the life prisoner has no hope of freedom, he can never atone for his offence. Balancing degrading treatment and respect for human dignity is a theory that courts grapple with, under the banner of justice. Some would say that criminals given life terms are usually those who caused suffering or death- they took one or more human life, or took another’s dignity and deprived the victim of their rights, but two wrongs cannot make a right, and this article is about hope, not justice.

The article delves into what it means to be human in European human rights law. It posits that the denial of the experience of hope is the denial of a fundamental part of what it means to be human. And that may be the key: what does it mean to be human, and how does and should acting inhumanely affect both the perpetrator and the victim?

Hope is intrinsically bonded to our DNA. Surely a prisoner can hope to have a few hours outside in a day, but cannot hope for freedom, while the rest of society will always hope for freedom- financial freedom, freedom from pain, and freedom of choice.

Because, as God, played by Morgan Freeman, explains in "Bruce Almighty:

"You can't mess with free will."

Choosing to have hope, no matter how big or small, is one of those choices. It’s a God-given right. But humans do strange things, and limit these hopes, whether it’s through criminal deeds, fear, feelings of powerlessness, repeated setbacks, significant life changes, or a perceived lack of meaning.

Yet hope remains; we can't seem to shake it off.

“Hope is the thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.”

-Barack Obama-

False Hope

Hope can be found in many places, in humour, through the law of attraction, by accepting the fate determined by astrology, or even in religion. Hope is ever-present, but sometimes the tools or courage are lacking. And then there's that free will thing, too.

Being in love, one of the most exhilarating states of existence, can depend on hoping someone will love you forever. And it happens, sometimes. So does landing the dream job you hope for, finding the perfect home, getting through a life-threatening illness, or any one of the plethora of human experiences we hope for.

But sometimes it's not realistic. Aspirations - hopes - are not just the best part of being human; without them, we'd still be wondering how to make a tool to fend off our marauding neighbours, or how to make light shine in the darkness.

Someone had the hope of solving these problems, and then went and created the path to achieve that hope. Some of the most brilliant minds were scoffed at, such as Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, who delivered science and technology that saw humans evolve in leaps and bounds. But they both had had a dream- a hope, an aspiration.

What these brilliant individuals did was leverage their own free will- their hopes- to create a particular kind of reality, to change the world. Their hopes were made real through tenacious effort, profound courage, and significant belief in themselves. They had a glimmer of hope that turned into a blaze.

But sometimes it just was never a good idea- even though it sounded like it at the time. Some things are never meant to be. There is usually a message in hoping someone will love you back- the utter despair of unrequited love, in not landing what you thought was your dream job. These setbacks lead us onto a different path —one that is better aligned with who we are and brings rich meaning to our lives, as the burnt toast theory reminds us.

False hope - an expectation of an unrealistic outcome despite there being no basis in reality - blurs the present and can be a barrier preventing acknowledging the present situation or working towards a realistic plan for change. It can lead to wasted effort, disappointment, and a delay in addressing actual needs.

But hindsight is perfect vision, but because we can never know what lies in the future, humans hope and dream. It's the only way we can start to build the reality we hope for.

But, as another equally valuable contributor to humanity put it,

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope"

-Martin Luther King, Jr. -

Hope Against Hope

To hope against hope —to hope very strongly that something will happen, even though you know it's unlikely to happen —takes courage. It's a balancing act between longing, yearning

, craving, hankering, and being prepared for the possibility of disappointment.

Hope against hope is the reason why Plan B was invented- perhaps even Plans C-Z, too. Because life is unpredictable, but without hope, life would be static and stagnant. So go ahead- hope against hope.

Faith, Hope, Love

Hope connects us to our dreams, and also to others, even when they are no longer around. We hope our loved ones who are no longer in this realm are happy, that they have found peace, wherever they find themselves. And we hope that they hear our heartfelt messages of love we still send, and hope to serendipitously come upon a reply from them- in a feather on the ground, a message from beyond, or a visit from an ethereal being. Our hope is grounded in love.

On a more practical note, we also hope for a good life, one with joy and meaning. Faith, of any denomination, is often the anchor that ties us to the trust that hope represents. Believing requires absolute trust in things that can’t be seen, in words passed down by fallible humans, in hope that the core promises of our chosen religion can be relied on.

Faith gives hope and strength to navigate life's challenges, awakening courage to act on beliefs. It helps us achieve what we once thought impossible. At the same time, faith brings a more profound connection- to our past and present, to others around us, and to the world in general. And faith is a blessing in times of hardship, saving us through its sense of peace and guidance.

But faith, especially when we suffer or see suffering, requires trust- and trust is the meaning of hope.

Suffering as a Path to Hope

For humans, suffering is inevitable. Sometimes trauma decimates lives, wiping out any possibility of hope. Yet, somehow, somewhere, hope finds its way through the cracks.

"The wound is the place where the light enters you."

-Rumi-

Or it could be hope that's shining out through the cracks.

Hope, whether it shines in from the outside or finds its way out from within, is more than just a coping mechanism. Hope’s guiding light brings with it motivation and strength, but conversely, suffering is a path to hope.

Embedding endurance and building character, suffering- like hope, is part of being human. Yet it doesn't just happen- it's an intensely meaningful experience, if we can manage to lift ourselves just long enough to hope to end the suffering.

Because hope is the first tentative step to healing. If you think you can- have hope you can, it's possible to get over the mountain, even when faced with the daunting task of rebuilding your life after trauma takes the old one.

Trauma triggers and fears are often what keep us mired in depression, with little hope, and unable to see the beautiful life right in front of us. The life we hope for.

"Hope is the only thing stronger than fear."

-President Snow-

Hope Springs Eternal

“Hope Springs Eternal," a phrase from Alexander Pope's poem "An Essay on Man," popularized optimistic philosophy throughout England and the rest of Europe. All the aphorisms in my article hint at how I subscribe to optimistic philosophy, too.

Sometimes, all it takes to change a moment is a little hope, and when many moments add up, they soon make a good life that started with an aspiration. A hope.

"To live without hope is to cease to live."

-Fyodor Dostoevsky-

And to corrupt René Descartes' philosophy, I hope, therefore I am. I live, love, and especially hope.

Nobody promised us life would be fair, but we still have hope that our lives will be happy and meaningful. It’s how humans are built. Hopes and dreams are the path to your destiny, but you must step onto this path to discover the meaning of hope. I really hope you do.