Our introduction and association with hopelessness is as old as our miseries. There were days when our streets were bright, our gardens were full of fruit-bearing trees, our days were calm and our nights were relaxing. These were the days when our hearts were full of hopes, like the waves of ocean, rising and hitting the shore with more and more intensity and the flow of waves never ceased. These were the days when our minds always thought of doing something new and every new day brought a new message of hope and success. These were the days when our days started with a new plan, new aim and a new objective; an objective that was always better and improved than that of the last day. In those days, our nights were meant for relaxing and revitalizing our energies to start a new day with an enhanced spirit.

Our hearts were full of confidence and this confidence always repelled the baseless fears and thus we used to travel to the farthest lands and jumped into works that seemed almost impossible. Our hearts always commanded the rational and took plunge to turn the impossible into possible. This confidence of our heart and souls had affected each and everything in the surrounding. The sunlight appeared brighter, the color of flowers more vivid and charming, the breeze more gentle and soothing and all the seasons brought with them more blessings and prosperity.

 But then, everything changed. Darkness came and covered each and everything. We tried all our efforts to remove this dark curtain but all our efforts did not come up with any kind of result. First, we believed in ourselves but repeated failures made us believe that we were no more able to change the scenario. Our hearts started sinking and our hopes started diminishing. We gradually lost confidence on ourselves and left believing on our skills, abilities and even our fate. Time kept passing and the color of hope kept fading. All these adverse conditions did not end there as well. Everything turned against us. The rays of sunlight no more remained beneficial to us. The seasons also turned against us and every new season brought came with its destruction.

Now our only need is hope; the hope that has left us and migrated to a far and unseen land. Until and unless this hope is not restored, we will never develop a belief in ourselves and when we don’t believe in ourselves, the conditions will remain the same.

Nations rise and fall, but the biggest loss to a nation or a society is the loss of hope. When two cities of Japan were hit by nuclear bombs in Second World War and the whole nation was brought to its knees, the nation did not let the hope be lost in the dark alleys of destruction and frustration. They strengthened their hopes, set high goals and then everyone put itself into practice and soon Japan appeared as an important economic power in the world. This did not happen once only but the firmness of their hope was tested time and again. When the earthquake destroyed its important city of Kobe, the nation soon stood up and reconstructed an entirely new city; a city better designed and developed than the previous. Last year, when its economy was crippled by the tsunami, the nation did not let the hope to be lost. Nations of the world saw that the whole nation soon got united and did not let the effects of this destruction last for long.

Historians and experts of social sciences say that for the development of a nation, there may be many things but most important is the emergence of hope in the hearts of its citizens. There would be the need of worldly materials but if the hearts are free of any hope, all these worldly materials will be wasted. This would be just like buying a lot of materials for the construction of a building and then leaving these things idle without using them and left to rot down.

Hope is a very essential factor, both for an individual and the society. Hope fills your heart with confidence, makes you see and realize the opportunities, helps you discover your hidden abilities and gives you courage to turn the impossible into possible. A scientist working in the laboratory for years without any success doesn’t quit his efforts as there is a hope of doing something that would change the world for better. Many of the scientific inventions and discoveries that seem to be impossible today were the fruits of this hope that never let the scientists to be discouraged or disappointed.

Hope is like Oxygen for the society. We all breathe the air that is necessary for us more than anything else but its true worth cannot be understood unless we fail to realize what would happen if we did not get it. One of the famous novels of English literature draws a situation when the oxygen in the world finishes and oxygen is sold in tanks to the people. As it is needed for life of people more than anything else, so every morning, people run to fill their tanks of oxygen and after this, they think of doing anything else. Same is the quality of hope. If it is present in the air and people are breathing this hope, no matter if it is felt or not, it works as an agent giving them life with every breath.

But hopelessness is just like a dark valley. It is fully covered by dark mountains from all the sides and the sky is also covered by dark clouds. In such hopelessness, we only see darkness and this darkness paralyzes all our senses and abilities. We cannot think of anything bright and this darkness covers our eyes, our spirits and our goals. When we see nothing but the darkness, then we stop thinking of anything better and every passing day adds more to this darkness.

But for hope, there is need of a very strong faith. A faith in something strong and powerful that should never let our hopes sink. A faith that should never let us down. When such a faith will be developed in our hearts, we will be able to find something very strong to pin our hopes with.

If we think of an individual or our own society or of the world as a whole, we are in dire need of hope. This hope will be the best shield against all the sorrows and disappointments of days and nights. If we are an individual or a nation, sorrows and setbacks keep us attacking. In such conditions, it is needed that we should keep renewing our hopes. We should start a day with a hope of a bright, confident and successful day, leaving behind all the shortcomings of the last day. Every night, we need to sleep with a hope of rising with a better, brighter and calmer day.

Our country and countrymen are very much disappointed. Decades of hopelessness has left us fully bankrupt with this worthy treasure. We need to revive a hope in our hearts and start it all over again, and hope should be our best companion and assistant in this endeavor.