Hope for a better world




In Spanish, the word "esperar" can mean to hope, to wait, and to expect.  The most powerful kind of hope is less wishful thinking and more expecting something so ardently that you're willing to wait for it until it actually happens.

That's a daring thing.

It means to carry on looking for it even though it hasn't arrived yet, in the face of the prospect that it may never come.

And one of the most daring things to hope in that way for is a better world.

There is a lot of sadness and pain in this one.  Sometimes our own personal world feels a bit drab.  There are people looking for something, just one thing, that means more to them than anything else, and it's the one thing they can't seem to find. 


Someone I respect once said:

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to just be people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey…delays…sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling burst of speed.”

The trick is to be grateful for the ride.  But also to hope for a better world while we stay thankful for this one.

Here's an interesting fact about perfectionism:  Those who are always overly concerned about being good enough don't believe that they actually will be.  If they did, they wouldn't feel nearly so anxious about it.  They need hope that their world can become better.

This world can  become better because there are people inside it who love.  There are people who give, not just people who take.  The capacity of each person to love should inspire hope for the future.

  Life is imperfect, but it is perfect for us.  Its defects enable us to become perfectly happy in an imperfect world through hope.  And if we can find happiness in imperfection, what circumstance could we ever be placed in that would take our joy from us?



Hope is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal to benefit the lives of others.  It is the fire that burns in behalf of others when they feel like all is lost.  It helps you to see what they can't and believe in what they won't until they have the strength to do so themselves.

It allows you to observe sadness and misfortune without becoming bitter or discouraged.  It is a light in your heart that shines more powerfully than any amount of darkness in the world.

Hope for a better world.  Risky?  Inherently.  But in the end it's the only way to live.


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Picture attributions:  Hernan Pinera, "GPS," https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode transp, "hope," https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode Forest Wander, "hope," https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode

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