HOPE

What does a person do when things are not working out in his favour? He works hard and hopes for the best. It is an emotion which stays with him/her in their dire times of need. It motivates a person to not give up trying. At the lowest time of a person’s life, he has nothing to lose. Hope is that element which will help him rise like a phoenix from the ashes.

“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible”-Christopher Reeve

In the 1950s, a university professor Curt Richter conducted a gruesome experiment with rats to test how long they could tread in water. He took twelve rats, put them into jars half filled with water and watched them drown. As the glass jar was very large the mouse couldn’t cling to its sides nor could jump out of it. Subsequently he tried to re-experiment but with a twist. Right before they gave up due to exhaustion, the researchers would pluck them out, dry them off, let them rest for a few seconds and again put them back in for a second round. How long do you think they lasted? 5 minutes? 10 minutes, NO. A whopping 60 hours on an average. The conclusion drawn was that since the rats knew they would be eventually rescued, they could push their bodies way past what they thought was impossible. Coronavirus destroyed so many lives and created havoc in many sectors. In the face of such depressing times scientists, doctors and medical professionals worked round the clock to heal people and most importantly introduce the vaccine. Taliban is synonymous with terror. Yet Malala Yousafzai survived from being shot by them as she advocated girl’s education rights, went on to become a global education activist and became the youngest Nobel Peace prize winner.

When somebody close to you dies, the situation is EXTREMELY SADDENING. You have to muster the courage to stand up and work hard for your future. Their absence shatters us and things are not normal. That ray of hope will always give us the strength to calm ourselves and be the driving force which we always aim for. Imagine staying in prison for twenty-seven years. Why? Because you revolted against the apartheid system of the erstwhile government of South Africa. Normal people might not have survived such a long prison sentence. But Nelson Mandela did it for the betterment of his country. He had the hope that one day his country will be a better place to live in.

Whatever situation we might be in, the desire to become the best version of ourselves should not die and hope definitely plays a part in propelling us to the next level.