The History of Hope

So I decided to be really random and type a work into google and click the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button. That word just so happened to be Hope. A word... that I really need at this point in time. And the result of that click of the button: Wikipedia.com. I really really like what it said. Especially in the history. This is what it said:



Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. [1] To hope is to wish for something with the expectation of the wish being fulfilled, a key condition in unrequited love. [2] Hopefulness is somewhat different from optimism in that hope is an emotional state, whereas optimism is a conclusion reached through a deliberate thought pattern that leads to a positive attitude.

When used in a religious context, hope carries a connotation of being aware of what Christians see as spiritual "truth"; see Hope (virtue). In Christian theology, hope is one of the three theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity), which are spiritual gifts of God. In contrast to the above, it is not a physical emotion but a spiritual grace. Hope is distinct from positive thinking, which refers to a therapeutic or systematic process used in psychology for reversing pessimism. The term false hope refers to a hope based entirely around a fantasy or an extremely unlikely outcome.


History:


Hope was personified in Greek mythology as Elpis. When Pandora opened Pandora's Box, she let out all the evils except one: hope. Apparently, the Greeks considered hope to be as dangerous as all the world's evils. But without hope to accompany all their troubles, humanity was filled with despair. It was a great relief when Pandora revisited her box and let out hope as well. It may be worthy to note that in the story, hope is represented as weakly leaving the box but is in effect far more potent than any of the major evils. In some faiths and religions of the world, hope plays a very important role. Hope can be passive in the sense of a wish, or active as a plan or idea, often against popular belief, with persistent, personal action to execute the plan or prove the idea. Consider a prisoner of war who never gives up hope for escape and, against the odds, plans and accomplishes this. By contrast, consider another prisoner who simply wishes or prays for freedom, or another who gives up all hope of freedom.

In Human, All Too Human, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche argued that "Zeus did not want man to throw his life away, no matter how much the other evils might torment him, but rather to go on letting himself be tormented anew. To that end, he gives man hope. In truth, it is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment." Emily Dickinson wrote in a poem that "'Hope' is the thing with feathers-- / That perches in the soul--."

The past couple of days, today especially, I have felt like the biggest jerk and the worst of friend. And... I can't exactly figure out why. Yes, I have been really sick, sicker than i've been in a long time, but that doesn't exactly give me an excuse. I haven't tried to avoid you, Natalia or Kirsten, at all. I've just been busy sleeping all week trying to get my energy up. I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time with you guys on my birthday, I really am. Natalia, I have wanted to see you for so long. But things just keep coming up. You came home from Corpus Christi and I got to see you for a total of 30 min in over a week. I don't like that. And to the rest of the Gang, I am SO SO SO sorry that I couldn't be up there this weekend. I really wanted to be there for David for his Court of Honor. I really wanted to be there for Jessica during her loss. I really wanted to be there for Jared and make sure he's okay, because you never really can tell unless you're there in person. I really wanted to be there for Thomas, to help encourage him throughout his stress and in his schooling. I really wanted to get Kirsten up to Heather so they could have a good time together. I want SO BADLY to be there for all of you. But also, I want to be there for all of you, for ME. When I'm with you guys, ANY of you, I feel so much better about everything. My future looks merrier and brighter. I actually have hope. This weekend was something I have been looking forward to for a while now. Because I knew that it was the last time that I was going to be able to see any of you, until... the end of may at the earliest. And... like usual, when something comes up that's important to me, something else comes up preventing it. My stupid body had to get in the way. And I hate it. To me, It wasn't a good enough reason to miss out on it. But... what i've learned throughout the past few years... is that "Life Sucks. And Then You Die." Yep. It does. Life sucks, but the reward in the end will be great. Now, it may have only been 3 weeks since i've seen those in Arkansas, and Oklahoma... but trust me, the time is long past due that I see you again. And it doesn't look like that will happen any time soon.

To the Trotters, Scotts, and Batemons: I hope you all had an amazing time tonight. Really I do. Be sure to have a GREAT spring break!
To the Mays: I will see you soon! (well... if I ever get better that is) Oh! And Natalia, this was all referring to you too... just in case you didn't figure that out.


I love you all! Be safe!

"Aww Mom! Do I HAVE to grow up?"

This sounds horribly silly but saturday night while watching the Moody girls, I was watching High School Musical 3. It actually turned out to be really good (don't judge me). So the movie ended and the girls were in bed so I decided to watch the bonus features on the DVD. Well, there is only one and it's called "The Final Goodbye". It shows the cast members talking about the ending of the movie and them saying goodbye to each other and what not. Well, Corbin Bleu said something towards the end of it that really really got to me. He said that when the final curtain fell in the last scene of the movie it was like his childhood ended. It was him saying goodbye and realizing that its over. He is now an adult and needs to live like such.

Well, the movie itself is about their Senior year of high school. Their last year. Their final year as children. And it really got me to thinking. Uh-oh! Now we're in trouble. Mari's thinking again. This next year is my last year as a "child". It is my final year to make the best of my childhood. This summer is my last year at camp. I will only have one more chance to go to prom (i'm missing this years). My life so far, especially this past year, has been pretty great. Yeah, i've had a bunch of crap go on, but who doesn't? But I'm going to have to start making decisions soon that will help mold the rest of my life. And it scares me. Don't get me wrong, I DO want to grow up. I want to move out, I want to live my life. And I know i'll make new memories... i'm just not so sure that they're gonna be quite like the ones I have now. And... I don't know if i'm ready to leave the ones I do have, behind. I have a year to pick a college (I'll probably go to the community college for my basics) and my major. I have narrowed it down to a couple of things but the more I think about it, the more things I come up with. And it just confuses me even more. I know that this is something I need to be prayerful about. And be prayerful I will. But somehow I think that there is some other underlying emotion behind all of this. I'm still trying to figure out what it is. I think that it may be the lack of confidence in myself. I really don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can make these decisions to the best of my abilities. I dont know if I can make the best of what time I DO have left. And that scares me even more. Poor Jessica had to hear this little panic attack of mine (I was texting her) while all these different thoughts and emotions were running through my head. I thank Heavenly Father every day for the people that are in my life. Especially my friends. I don't know what I would do without them.

So, I'm gonna try my hardest. And I'm not going to regret a single bit of it. I have so little time left, I'm gonna spend it in the best of ways.