There is a famous saying, “If it were not for hope, the heart would break.” Why is having hope so useful? What does it do for us? What makes it so special?

The word hope is defined as to want something to happen and think that it is possible. Normally, we seek sense pleasures and opulences, such as wealth, power, fame, etc. Some we are able to obtain and what we are not we continue to hope for. Thus, we remain busy in pursuit of those things which we do not have. We are all attracted to something or the other according to our personalities, training, circumstances, etc, and these are the things that we usually hope for.

Such hopes are very useful in many ways. It motivates and gives us energy to pursue our goals. It is because of hope that one is also able to tolerate sufferings which inevitably come our way. Hope makes us wait patiently for the result and persevere in our endeavours. A hopeful person would be more inclined to pursue positive things and avoid negativity. He or she is able to calm his or her mind and make the surrounding environment peaceful.

Hope contributes to our successes in many ways. Even foolish hopes are useful since they keep us going. Such qualities are important as they give meaning to our lives.

However, one should know how to hope. Our hopes should be based on facts or some hard truths such as our resources, time-frame, circumstances, etc. Otherwise, one is bound to face disappointments. In this regard one should know the difference between hoping and daydreaming.

Now the question is why do we so helplessly hope? This has something to do with the eternity of soul. It is a natural to hope, as it is to pray. Wise people are always hopeful. Even atheists hope.

Hoping is very crucial in our thinking process. It prevents us from getting into a negative frame of mind, which results in depression. Experience tells us that hopes, if acted upon properly, are generally not belied. Faith in god is something that gives us hope and reinforces our resolve to achieve. However, higher objectives require a lot of austerity and perseverance.

In conclusion, It is intelligent to be hopeful than to be hopeless because things can be quite different from what we anticipate them to be as we are unable to see the big picture in life. There is no reason not to be hopeful for things worth gaining like liberation or moksha and working towards them. Everything is possible in this precious human existence.