Hope is cruel. I know that hope is more commonly recognised as a feeling or an emotion that can bring peace to the soul. The funny thing about hope is that it leaves no promise, no guarantee that it will match the reality of the world we live in. What would turn hope into something more useful? It almost feels as though hope and helplessness go hand in hand – the very definition of hope embodies the idea that there is nothing we can do about what we are hoping for. In reality, the only thing hope does is make the time tick by while we live with a slightly morphed view of a future we cannot predict.

When the human spirit has nothing else to feel, to think, to do in a particular moment, we hope. We hope for a better brighter world, a world where understanding prevails over conflict, where what matters most is defined by kindness, compassion, heart. Hope becomes visionary, giving us something to work towards. Its power may not evidently take shape or form but gives substance to the mind.

Hope cannot predict the future but it helps us cope with the present. It is what makes the present a little more bearable, a little more bright and a little more real. Hope goes hand in hand with the present, hope becomes what we use to continuously believe in transforming the life we are living to make it different – never will there be a present, without a little hope to make this world a better place. Living in the present without hope then, is essentially bizarre, alien, maybe even hopeless.