~~ Is Hope good or bad ~~

Wish you all a very Happy New Year. Its still not too late to wish :) HOPE you all have a great year ahead. 

HOPE. What a wonderful feeling. I have always been astonished at this human tendency to have a hope for everything. I would be surprised to know if there is a person on this planet, who has never hoped for anything. 

Few days back, when I was watching director Ang Lee's movie 'Life of Pi', this thought fascinated me more, how even a little bit of hope is enough for the survival of a being. The protagonist Pi, after losing his entire family in the ship wreckage and stranded on a boat for some 200+ days with a tiger, maintained hope to reach the shore. He did everything he could, to stay alive, whether it was eating fish for survival, in spite of him being a vegetarian or, to confront the wild tiger, Richard Parker. There are many other aspects to this story too like fear, faith, the differences between man and beast and so on, but my focus was more on hope. It was that little hope, that gave him the courage to do everything he did. The hope to stay alive, the hope to reach the shore, the hope to get help in the middle of the vast ocean and hope to get back to his normal life. On a side note, I liked the name, Richard Parker, what a royal name for a Bengal tiger. :)

When talking about movies, how can I forget another favorite one, The Shawshank Redemption, the story of hope. Andy and Red spent a lot of time together in the jail. From the very start they clicked to each other and became very good friends but they differed a lot in their thoughts about hope. While Red was not hopeful at all, Andy explains him that Hope is something inside, that the prison could never take. I love these two quotes from the movie, which beautifully explain Andy and Red's perception of hope.

While Red says, "Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane." 

Andy's view is "Hope is a good thing, may be the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

Red thought it could drive him insane thats why he never hoped for anything, until he was influenced by Andy. What Andy did, was because of that little hope he had. It made him get rid of the prison, which he never deserved and live a free life. Also, Andy changed Red and how in the end, Red also becomes hopeful and gets a new idea of life. He too starts hoping. I second Andy, that hope never dies. It dwells in every person and make them move forward in life. 

Hmm, I understand that movies are fictional most of the times, but they are someone's imagination. Sometimes we could relate to them and sometimes not at all. These are two stories which are focused on human emotions. May be the background is not the same in our real lives but the feeling is the same. If we see in the real world, everyone's life is bumpy, no one has a smooth ride. Many wrong things happen in life, like people losing their jobs in the shadow of economic crisis, losing homes in a flood, loss of loved ones, loss due to terrorism and war, and many more which, we couldn't even imagine, but still lives go on, with a hope that things will be fine and there is a better tomorrow. There is always a Sunrise after a sunset.

Thinking on those similar lines, why hope is always good. I have always heard people hoping for good things like I hope you get well soon; Hope I pass in my exam; I hope this year I get a promotion;  I hope you have a safe flight; I hope my family is doing good; I hope this journey is successful; I hope my project finishes right in time; and many many more hopes. Have you ever wondered, that why no one hopes that things go wrong, rather they hope for best or at least good?

There are some questions popping in my mind right now. Is this a feeling that keeps us moving and working towards our goals and in a way gives us a reason to live? Is hope a necessity, in order to live? Is there any relation between being hopeful and being optimistic?  Are there only optimistic people who hope and others with negative emotions don't?  My idea is that there could be two set of people one who hope for good and one who doesn't have hope at all (though it is rare). So logically, does that mean hope is always good and never bad. Either it is there or it is absent.

I would love to hear some more thoughts. Please comment, what's your take on it. I too have a HOPE that, whosoever reads it, leaves a line about their idea of hope :) 

Luv

#Neetu

PS: After writing this post, I realised that, I have used the word 'hope' a lot. But I don't want to change it now. I like this word :) 

Other than this, the winter break went fine. I had to work a little but then there was time to relax, cook, read and last but not the least, a weekend trip to Las Vegas. yay. It was fun. Keep reading guys. Signing off for now. Btw, they say winter break is over but winter is not over yet.  Its -16 C outside when I am writing this and lake is still frozen. I went for a walk on the lake last weekend. People were camping with the fishing gear. Classes have already begun and so is the new fun along with it. Again, thanks for reading.