Hope

[Happy Camper]

So this is inspired by a rather personal relationship problem. My friend and I have both been through a lot the past few years and we both struggle with depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. We support each other and all that yackity yack. But there's something very different about us. I'm a firm believer that everyone has hope whether or not they feel or think they do. My friend believes that hope is relative and that while some people have hope and hold a certain responsibility to hang on to that hope, others (including himself) are simply hopeless.

We're talking about depression, trust in others, and recovery.

Is hope relative or does everyone have hope whether they choose to acknowledge it or not?

[Freak]

There's always some situation. ....usually ending in suicide.

[Demonic Pyro]

Everyone has hope, and if they don't have hope, then they are dead.
Not to be mean about it, but if you don't have hope then you'd most likely try suicide or something... Hope is what gets people through the day and wanting to get to the next. And even then if you don't want to get to the next day, you'd have to have like -100% hope in order to do something like suicide. I truly believe tomorrow is a new day and a lot can change, there is always something new you can do to change everything.

FACT: 3/4 or the people that jumped off a building and survived realized about half way down, all their problems in life where fixable.

[Doc Johnson]

This is a very hard question, one I've pondered many, many times in the last 15 or so years. Here's the conclusion I've come to. Take it for what it's worth.

Hope exists so long as each one of us has time left to live. Last Thanksgiving, I was feeling melancholy. I was... I don't know... maybe a little adrift in mind and spirit. When I feel that way, I listen to a lot of dark, gothy music. Yeah, yeah, I know. Sooo emo of me. Anyway, I wrote something then that I sort of rememebered and went back and found.

Here it is, for what it's worth:

Quote:I’ve believed for some time that I will die young. I just keep revising the meaning of “young” periodically as I continue to survive. I also worry for the world, for my daughter, for the future. I’ve been wondering, today, on Thanksgiving, as an atheist, as a punk, as a cultural and historical critic, as… a whole bunch of things not known for their gratitude, why I celebrate Thanksgiving when I feel this way. I love holidays, birthdays, and the like, but one that passes seems like one more step toward the end: For me, for the world. That sounds awfully depressing, but that is true only if you greet doom with surrender. I do not.

But I can’t help but think that my parents’ generation, riding the coattails of the “Greatest Generation” comprised by my grandparents, have left us in a game that is unwinnable. I grew up under the threat of nuclear war and rumors of environmental disaster. I grew to the age of majority in the Reagan years. Kids today grow up with the threat of so-called terrorism (stupid, messy term) and the emergence of a frightening ecological juggernaut headed their way. They grew up in the Bush years and the Clinton years. My parents grew up believing that the world was theirs, the final war was won, and then Vietnam happened. In the midst of material abundance and spiritual and intellectual complacency, they took what was offered, little realizing that their way of living carried a burden to be paid for in gold by the next generations. So, now, every time I see some grandfather type driving an RV, I long for a civilian model Stinger missile. There you go, old man, might as well burn a little bit more of the commonwealth. Might as well consume just a little bit more. Might as well go out in style and leave your kids and grandkids the bill.

I don’t believe in god. I don’t believe in the afterlife, as such, since it sort of relies on the existence of a spiritual realm. At the same time, I believe in ghosts, so let’s just say I’m conflicted. Jesus, though, I’m not so sure about. So this leaves me in a peculiar place. I’m pretty sure things are fucked up, but not so sure if they can be fixed. I fear for my life, but I hope for my daughter’s future. It’s hard to say why I’m not more depressed, but I still cling to hope that striving for life, for all that is good and honorable and worthy and free and human and flawed and true and absurd, actually means something. I want my death to be bought dearly, if you get what I mean. When the eagle swoops down to get this little mouse, I want to be giving it the finger. Have you seen that poster? It’s stupid, really, but it stays with me. A mouse, middle finger extended, looks up at an eagle. The eagle is swooping down to kill and eat him. The caption reads, “Defiance.” I don’t own a copy, but it’s sort of a long-term goal for me to acquire one. The image is inscribed on my heart, as is the sentiment.

So, embracing doom, I am free to live. Do you ever feel that way?

So, today’s playlist includes Collide, Christian Death, Sisters of Mercy, Lords of the New Church, Faith and the Muse, The Misfits, AFI, Front 242, Elvis (Blue Moon of Kentucky), Lords of the New Church, The Fuzztones, and others. And thus I ring in the death of seasons, doom and gloom, as well as the freedom to hope.

Bare trees, falling leaves, winter’s breath upon my neck. In my heart, forboding is intertwined with love and hope. If you’re doomed anyway, then best to die dancing on your own grave, a sword in your hand and your child held close in the other arm.

[SoulRiser]

well said, Doc... ... and i love that poster :biggrin:

I've always believed there was hope for me. I think there probably is hope for everyone else, too. Even if you have to do something drastic to get it, and i don't mean drastic as in go on a killing spree, but maybe just get away from your current situation, even if just for a while.

One thing though, if you don't believe you have hope, then you don't have hope. In that sense, it is kinda relative. It's there if you want it to be, if you're willing to do what it takes to get to it. And it almost never happens the exact way you wanted it to

[Dark Soul X]

Soul's right. It all depends on the person.

[Guest]

Not everybody has hope. All people are capable of hoping though.

[Money morkel]

Everyone has hope. hope is an optimistic attitude of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one's life.

[Phynex]

No, not everyone has hope. Everyone has a thing called dumb luck and what you do with it counts. Not everyone is born equal, we are all dealt from a deck of cards called fate, genetics and psychology clashed together make us who we are. There are some people who are born and will never be able to learn to read or write. Sometimes people lose their talents through tragedies and never recover. My belief is that you start out with hope as an embryo, go through the universe's simulation and eventually either keep it or lose it as some point in your life.

Hope never was clearly defined in this thread and I define it as your life having a positive net impact on your world around you along being happy.

[Rule_BreakerXVIII]

Tricky question.

It is so damn hard to hope when you're depressed, sad or just feeling weak. But then again, the causes of my depression were mostly hormones(middle school) and external circumstances(being surrounded by assholes). Even then I simply got tired of feeling empty, and tried to invent a religion.

I think people misunderstand hope and optimism as being constantly preppy or 'at peace' in a "God will take care of this" way. Sometimes hope can be knowing that if you push enough, things will work out your way...sooner or later. Or maybe it's a feeling that a certain "something" you really need is out there somewhere, and that you'll find it if you try/look hard enough. I don't think I have ever been totally hopeless.

[schoolsux]

(09-18-2015 11:01 PM)Rule_BreakerXVIII Wrote:  Tricky question.

It is so damn hard to hope when you're depressed, sad or just feeling weak. But then again, the causes of my depression were mostly hormones(middle school) and external circumstances(being surrounded by assholes). Even then I simply got tired of feeling empty, and tried to invent a religion.

I think people misunderstand hope and optimism as being constantly preppy or 'at peace' in a "God will take care of this" way. Sometimes hope can be knowing that if you push enough, things will work out your way...sooner or later. Or maybe it's a feeling that a certain "something" you really need is out there somewhere, and that you'll find it if you try/look hard enough. I don't think I have ever been totally hopeless.

I have little at this point. I've been battling depression (thank you mom (for making me move with my dad), Mr. Reinke (teacher who ruins every day of mine), middle school crush (rejecting me) and self-deflating personality) since before I came to SS (though I have had good days and weeks... and some where I considered suicide)

[sfslol]

In the darkest of times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength.

[schoolsux]

Some people have it. Others don't.