Choosing Hope
Someone said, in my presence:
I've always been a pessimist. I think it's better. That way I don't get too disappointed.
I disagreed with their perspective. I still do.
If you do not believe in the opportunity to create a better future you will act in ways that will contribute to a worse one—either through inaction or by only ever taking actions in accordance with a bad outcome you believe to be a foregone conclusion. You will talk yourself out of trying to make a real difference because you will believe in the inevitability of failure.
Hope is not found. Hope is made. Hope is choosing to not let go over a better future, to believe in the possibility of a better tomorrow, and then working to make that future come true—especially when it is hard. It is knowing you won't succeed all of the time, but that even succeeding some of the time is so much better than not even trying. Hope dies not when we fail, but when we give up.