"Hope"

Hope is not blind or rigid optimism that usually passes for hope, but an open sense of possibility, acceptance of risk and a willingness to work things out. Hopeful people face reality in a clear-eyed fashion, doing the best they can. The hopeful person loos at reality and then arrives at solutions. If a hoped for outcome becomes impossible,the hopeful person will find something else to hope for" (Psychology Today)

"Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies."
"I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope." (Shawshank Redemption)
I saw hope at work last night. We were invited to a charity wine auction in aid of the Jan Kriel school. This is a school, or so I thought, for children with learning disabilities and some minor physical disabilities as well. Then the first speaker of the evening appeared, a bright eyed and bushy-tailed 17 year old. His left arm seemed paralised. "Cerebral palsy is such a bummer", I thought. But this young boy has a disease called Neuropathy, a degenerative nerve disease that will continue to rob him of some of his muscle abilities. He told us about how he first lost the ability to write with his left hand. Then he wrote with his right hand until that failed. Then his notes were taken in class by a scribe and now he uses a voice-activated computer to do his work. He walked among the tables asking the guests if they need anything and relayed the requests to the waiters. He lives in hope.
So to ease my miserable death-obsessed soul, I bought a Cartier handbag. It is beautiful and my reminder that hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and a good thing never dies.