Hope
Have you ever wondered why some people keep buying lottery even though they never win? Have you ever wondered why there are still people who support ailing football clubs? Have you ever wondered why the US keeps trying to hold talks with North Korea even though they get nowhere? It is all because of that greatest of gifts that we call Hope.Why is hope the greatest of gifts? What makes hope so special that it stands above all other virtues? To understand that we must understand that hope is tied closely to desire. Desire is the inclination to want things, and everyone wants something. Be it a car or a new handphone or someone who understands you, we are all creatures of desire. Hope is our way of seeing that desire fulfilled, even though it has not actually come to pass. Now, you may be thinking that hope is only an illusion, that it is only part of our imagination, but let me say that hope is powerful. Hope can make or break a man.
Think about it. Try to remember the last time someone got your hopes up, but in the end you were let down. I know, it feels terrible. Now, try to think of one time when your hopes were up, and things went your way. It felt real good, didn't it? So imagine if you told a man lost in a desert without water for many days that you scouted the area and found that there is no water for miles around, chances are he would just give up then and there. But if you told him that there is an oasis up ahead, chances are he would drag himself onwards, no matter how weak or exhausted he is. The same applies to soldiers under siege by enemy forces. Tell them that no reinforcements can reach them and that they are totally surrounded, and the chances of them surrendering are quite high. But tell them that reinforcements are arriving soon and they will fight to the death, even though there may not actually be reinforcements.
Why? Because hope, that greatest of gifts, can lift you up high enough to keep enduring. It is what keeps gamblers going back to the betting stations. It is what keeps football fans loyal to their clubs. It is what keeps the US persistent in disarming North Korea's nuclear capabilities. There is that hope in them, no matter how small, that maybe, if they just hold on for a little while more, things might just go their way. That is what makes hope the greatest of gifts, because when you give hope, people can go on for far longer than they knew they could. But take it away, and you can kill their spirit, crush their motivation, and dissolve their resolve.
I've spent almost two months in a military camp, so I know what I'm talking about. There is nothing more important than hope, because sometimes that is all you have. And it will keep you going.
I bring hope to others; I keep none for myself.