Welcome to My Hope
My personal definition of hope is someone being able to lift someone’s spirit through sheer will
power just like in the comics or movies. Is being able to go through a lot and not letting it stop
you no matter what. Despite having all those bad things happening, you still cling onto the best
outcome happening.
-Jonathan Contreras
Definition of Hope
To start off, there have been a lot of experiences that have altered my meaning of hope. I
can recall how at one point a close family member was going through very important surgery.
All I did was pray and hope that everything would go well during their surgery. I remember
praying to God every single day, but when the day came by and got that phone call that he
passed away it changed a lot for me. Throughout my early years I just didn’t want to rely on
hope since I thought that it’d only bring disappointment. Just staying real and knowing that
there’s things I can’t control or can control. Later, I would watch a lot of anime and would see
how one person can become the symbol of hope, and I remember how I would usually hope forthe protagonist to win even against all odds. I would hope for a lot of things to go my way
throughout my life without even really thinking about it. I think seeing my parents go through a
lot and still doing the best they can to move forward played a huge role as well. Seeing them
being able to keep moving forward no matter what has given me hope and played a part of my
definition of it. Hoping and praying to God is something I wouldn’t include in my definition. I
don’t think praying for someone is bad, but I think putting everything into a single being is bad.
The main thing is being able to be influenced by someone that is able to go against all odds and not just relying on things to be good but taking action. Someone doesn’t also have to be your inspiration of hope, but you can also be your very own symbol of hope. During my colloquy conversation I did bring up having my definition of hope being someone like a symbol of hope. I would just add more to what I meant by seeing or being a symbol of hope. During my
conversation I shared a lot of similarities with my partner about being more realistic rather than just relying on just hope. When I was talking and connecting different stories and experiences throughout my life, I did see that I found myself clinging to hope and being a hopeful person without even realizing it.
One example that I used to craft my definition was Pope Francis in which “True hope is
always hope in God” in which it shaped my definition by making sure that I didn’t want my own
definition of hope to revolve around religion. Especially when he says that “The lord always
remembers. Even in the bad times he remembers, and that’s our hope. And his hope does not
disappoint” in which I don’t agree due to the different events that have happened in my life, so I
knew that I wanted my definition to not revolve around God. A character or scene that helped
craft my hope definition was in Mufasa’s Ghost the Lion king video where Mufasa tells Simba to
“remember who you are” which is something that my father has told me growing up whenever I
had any doubts or was nervous about something. He would tell me about all I have achieved and
done and that I should remember who I am and what I’ve done. Another example would be the
leap scene from How I Met Your Mother where I do take two different examples but the one that
did help me the most was how despite everything that had happened to him he was still able to
push through it, he wouldn’t have change a single thing since that ultimately led to him meeting
his love. In which I connect it to not letting a bunch of bad sequences stop you from doing what
you want to do or finding the love of your life like he did. I too think the same of how I wouldn’t
have changed a single bad thing since it ultimately led me to something good or even played into
me becoming the person I am today. Another example I liked that connected with my personal
definition of hope was Finding Waldo and how “To be inspired by an exemplar to act for hope
we must know what acting for hope looks like”. I like this example for the fact that it reminds me
that I wouldn’t really have a definition of hope without being able to see someone going through
a lot and still fighting through it all. Being able to get a picture of what a symbol of hope acts and
looks like really helped me craft my own definition of hope.
I personally believe that my hope definition addresses the dangers of “hope that harms”
since firstly one of them being disappointed by not being able to fulfill your own or someone’s
expectations. Is firstly, the person I envision through my personal definition of hope is someone
that is giving it their all no matter what. Despite not being able to accomplish a certain goal, I
personally feel like there’s no room for disappointment since you gave it your all. Which I also
connect with complacency since like I said being able to get up after getting hit with things you
never expected and still being able to push through is an achievement by itself. There are so
many people that don’t or aren’t able to keep going after just one minor setback. They throw
everything to the ground and just give up without even wanting to give it another try. When you
see someone that worked hard to get to where they want to be and they want to quit, you can’t
help but root for them and tell them to keep going. Seeing someone able to go through a lot
inspires others and maybe let’s say all that work put in didn’t win a gold medal, a tournament, or
even a world cup for your country. Putting all your time, effort and even being full hope to win
something and still not being able to win or come out on top of whatever the situation is
shouldn’t cause disappointment, complacency, and wouldn’t even be morally bad hope. Since I
believe that giving it your all is the best outcome and the best thing a person could do in this life.