A short conversation about reasons for hope

1: An insult

“You hopeless f***! Just leave me alone!”

“Don’t be so hopeless!”

“You’re hopeless, aren’t you?”

It’s a term of abuse.

Being hopeless.

Of course it is.

It suggests you’ve given up. That you’re good for nothing.

2: Hopelessness

To be ‘hopeless’ suggests a flounderer – someone with so little optimism that they’ve become incompetent. Someone who’s lost all energy and drive. Someone whose intelligence is diminished by a failure of will. Someone who’s forgotten how to try, who’s become inept. Someone you don’t really want around.

Who would disagree? It’s neither desirable nor useful to be a person without hope.

 

 

3: Serving others

Except that, for some people, it can be quite useful for you to be hopeless.

Hopelessness incapacitates you.

It gives them an edge.

It means their hope’s winning.

They are going to get what they were hoping for.

You, on the other…