Looking into her husband’s eyes, holding his little hand, Iga still didn’t lose hope. He believes the next treatment will make the expected breakthrough. After all, I have read about examples of many people who have recovered from this monstrous cancer. Every day, waking up, he looks optimistically into the future, one might even say against logic – like a drowned man holding onto a razor.
Paula incorporates training into her daily schedule. Work, home, but above all, the implementation of the path leading to the goal. For several years, it was believed that he would finally stand on the podium. And though it is not easy, though life deceives her, though it teaches her humility, she does not lose hope.
Ilona and Bartik do not know where they made mistakes in upbringing. They have surrounded their two children with love since they were born. Family has always been in the first place for them. Conversations, joint meals and mutual support in various difficult moments. They have no idea what made the son suddenly start denying the values prevailing at home, and the company he met becomes his whole world. His parents are saddened to see what is happening to him. But they believe that what they have given, and what they have been through for years not only in word but also in example, will not be in vain, and that their son will find a way to make him a good and valuable person. They stay with him, supporting him, despite the attitude he presents.
Hope … It gives strength to Iga, who takes care of her sick husband, motivates Paula to train every day and allows Ilona and Bartek to survive the most difficult moments. She is the one who keeps them in line every day. Thanks to him, they sometimes believe even against logic, but they know that he will die the last in them.
From a psychological point of view, hope is a state of mind that releases creative powers that lead to overcoming adversity and even achievement. Kazimierz Obuchowski writes that this is the initial assumption of the paradox of happiness in circumstances of adversity and that even suffering can give positive characteristics. According to the professor, hope corresponds to the metaphor of escape and difficult joy but also to a deliberate act. It is our creation, it is true that we can inspire it, but it requires our own effort.
It is said to be the wisdom of those doomed to helplessness, and as a basis for positive emotions, it sustains our ability to think abstractly, make long-term plans, and maintain intellectual control over events. It is hope that grounds us so that we can work emotionally, energetically, and mentally, to move forward, despite unfavorable, sometimes even very difficult, circumstances. It’s also our mind’s ability to handle a lot of uncertainty.
And you? In difficult situations, can you see the light at the end of the tunnel or only see the darkness? Can you see what makes you believe, even though others have long since given up the fight? What are your qualities, even in hopeless situations, in the moments when you lose ground under your feet, give you strength and ignite the will to fight? Or do you give up? Others see that you can’t be sad, angry or sad, you break down on yourself?
Mark Manson, in Everything Hurts, writes that “If we don’t believe there is any hope that the future will be better than the present, that our lives will get better in some way, then we will die spiritually. If there is no hope that things will get better, then what’s the point of living—what’s the point of doing anything?” And the more we lose, the less hope we have. *
According to Mark Manson, we need three ingredients to build and sustain hope:
– feeling in control,
belief in certain values,
– Communities.
“Control” means that we feel that we are in control of our lives, that we can influence our destiny. “Values” are something important enough to strive for, and something worth fighting for. “Community” means that we are part of a group that values the same things we do and works towards the same goals. Without community, we feel isolated, and our values mean nothing. Without values, none of these three components seem worth pursuing. The ingredients are to lose hope.”
Remember that hope is not the mother of fools. Don’t confuse it with naivety. It is a feeling that drives us to action, even though success is not certain. Thanks to it, we go beyond our limits, gather our strength even when we don’t want to get out of bed. Naivety, on the other hand, justifies inaction, it waits for the miracle, for the toxic parent to become sympathetic, for the alcoholic spouse to go to therapy, for us to find a better job, stubbornly stuck where we feel used. Naive waiting for a miracle. Hope is the result of our intentions, and is not imposed on us, as Professor Ochochowski said, “our work, the house in which we decide to live.”
* Excerpted from M. Manson’s book “Everything’s Warped. When Only Hope Remains” by M. Manson. Sensus Publication
Echo Richards embodies a personality that is a delightful contradiction: a humble musicaholic who never brags about her expansive knowledge of both classic and contemporary tunes. Infuriatingly modest, one would never know from a mere conversation how deeply entrenched she is in the world of music. This passion seamlessly translates into her problem-solving skills, with Echo often drawing inspiration from melodies and rhythms. A voracious reader, she dives deep into literature, using stories to influence her own hardcore writing. Her spirited advocacy for alcohol isn’t about mere indulgence, but about celebrating life’s poignant moments.
