What's your view on the concept of 'hopelessness'?

a reply to: Kandinsky

I have learned to see life as time that you have and what you can do with it, rather than waiting for life to tell you what to do, while feeling victimized at every turn.

I am going through this phase in my life that is opening my eyes to things I have always known but never really thought about it, to the full realization that life has more meaning that we can ever imagine, we tend to waste life in the most meaningless ways,.

One thing is for sure, I can never be back to the way I used to be and how I used to think.

a reply to: marg6043

You use the word 'phase' and that's always the case isn't it? We're always either in one, leaving one or beginning a new one.

One thing is for sure, I can never be back to the way I used to be and how I used to think.

That's wisdom for anyone of any age. Nostalgia is heart-warming and we still have to live in the moment with an eye on the future and our next phase of life.

a reply to: Profusion
I go by the handle "SgtCursed" for a reason.
It seems to me that hopelessness is a seed planted inside a man by outward circumstances. Once that seed is allowed to take root, it is watered and cultivated by those same outward circumstances. I have suffered from chronic depression for well most of my life. Mine is a genetic condition and it makes it hard to cope with simple everyday life. Most mole hills become mountains.
It has been my observation that some people are simply blessed with a good life. Of course this encompasses many things: Upbringing, environment, opportunity, and various other circumstances. While others seem to struggle endlessly, with few breaks, just to stay afloat. I fall in the latter category.
All things being relative, I am certainly better off than someone in a third world country. But, I live in the West where society expects me to "keep up" and "cope". This is almost alien to me.
I don't understand it, but somehow, there is still a flicker of hope in my soul, God given, I would say, and that is what keeps me going.

SgtCursed

Excuse me, please. What are "woo woos"?

a reply to: Profusion

It seems to me that the basic problem with most people that believe in the “You Create Your Own Reality" concept is that they're totally unrealistic about their belief as I described above. To make it worse, those who claim that the phrase “You Create Your Own Reality” means that one can change anything and everything about reality can't prove any of it.

Well, regardless of which "these people" (the woo-woos, I presume) you are talking about, I will say that I am a Buddhist thinker:
People suffer, but if they allow that feeling to just "be", and to detach themselves from judgments such as "hope" or "lessness" that we feel, we can remain calm regardless of what is happening.

Sorry if incoherent. I'm very tired today......

a reply to: Profusion

Hopeless is an adjective used to describe a feeling about a particular situation. Hopelessness is a noun used to describe the act of feeling hopeless.

It implies a lack of power. This is often misunderstood as being of a depressive mentality and despair.

Some things are hopeless. Sometimes there is a feeling that empowers the hopelessness of the situation to overcome sensibilities.

Accepting that you have no control over a situation or the behavior of someone else sounds like you are being hopeless, but in reality it is the necessary reaction to avoid hopelessness, it is in the hands of others and therefore trying to have control over something you have no control over is useless.

Having hope is necessary for someone to believe there is a favorable outcome and recognizing their part, only which they have control over; their thought processes and feelings and actions.

Negative situations require positive reasoning and positive situations require negative reasoning, this is balance.

Hopelessness is not a bad thing to have and having hope can be detrimental to a persons well being in the face of insurmountable odds.

Thinking everything is hunky dory all the time is just as bad as thinking everything sucks all the time.

There has to be a balance between hope and hopeless.

originally posted by: soulpowertothendegree
a reply to: Profusion

Hopeless is an adjective used to describe a feeling about a particular situation. Hopelessness is a noun used to describe the act of feeling hopeless.

What's your source to support that assertion? My source is merriam-webster.com:

Full Definition of HOPELESS

1
a : having no expectation of good or success : despairing
b : not susceptible to remedy or cure
c : incapable of redemption or improvement
2
a : giving no ground for hope : desperate
b : incapable of solution, management, or accomplishment : impossible
— hope·less·ness noun
www.merriam-webster.com...

The way that the definition above is written means that all of the definitions given for the adjective "hopeless" apply to the noun "hopelessness." If you believe that's incorrect, please provide a source.

a reply to: Profusion
You seem to be confoundng internal hopelessness and external hopelessness. Internal hopelessness is a mental state, and of course, if you have some help or resources, you can 'create your own [internal] reality'. External hopelessness is a physical situation, and there may be no prospects for a good outcome, so no hope. The problem comes because people confuse the two, entwine them, mix them up, and generally can't figure out anything because they are talking about two different things under one word. You were right to consider the definition first, but unfortunately, the definition you used is too blurry to be useful. Create your own!

originally posted by: awareness10
a reply to: enlightenedservant

Sure ok, i didnt think you were a girly boy but hell if you want my dresses and my makeup their all yours lol.

If not then you can give them away but somehow i doubt you'd actually have the capacity to do that seeing as you're in another country anyways. I'm sure you're a young buck who thinks he's got the entire world figgured out.
Guess what? You Don't. Seriously Kid, you have no idea what the fark will happen in the next 3 yrs.

LOL Using ageism in an internet forum? You really think that's going to help your argument? A person's age has nothing to do with the validity of their argument. "Hurr hurr hurr! You youngsters don't know nuffin! Back in my day (poot) whoops! Gotta change my diapers." That's supposed to prove you're right & I'm wrong? LOL

I mean seriously, you can't defend your doom & gloom argument that reality is supposedly fake. You say everything is worthless and blah blah blah. Then you get called out for how ridiculous your argument is. Clearly you don't believe what you said, otherwise you wouldn't care about any of your possessions, since they're "fake" too. Instead you had to resort to name calling & ageism, since you couldn't defend your obviously false position.

And who says I'd have to physically pick up your possessions? There's this incredible invention they've created in my few days on this planet. It's called "air mail" (gasp!). You could easily send those "fake" possessions of yours to me, so I could distribute them to people who'd appreciate them. Or just donate them to a local charity. I mean, life sucks & is all an illusion, right? You could just imagine you had new possessions & it would all be the same, right?

a reply to: Profusion

My source is irrelevant. You asked, "What's your view on the concept of 'hopelessness'?" and I gave my opinion. So, what you did was prove my point. Your decision to reply to me with your inability to focus on what was written by me about the question you posed is an example of hopelessness.

It is hopeless to try and teach someone who does not want to learn. I have hope that one day you may.

I think I am basically hopeless. When I listen to people talk about their hard childhoods, which were not as bereft as my own, I notice that they are so bitter... While I don't feel so at all. I wonder why, and I observe that they have an idea of what it SHOULD have been like, or what they hoped for. Many experiences like this later carry the same unfulfilled hope, while I go through worse and don't even feel it is worth talking or thinking about.

It makes me think that hope is the base of all disatisfaction. It is a determination of what the future SHOULD hold rather than embracing whatever it might hold, with an intent to discover and face it head on - whatever it is.

I do tend to have the impression that we create our future, but part of that seems to be having an idea of what you'd like, while also being totally accepting of it's opposite, if that is what happens. As soon as I am actively trying to reject potential futures, that is when they arrive....

a reply to: Profusion

My take on it is this.....

To remove all hope is perhaps a good thing, hope means no change.

Hope means NO POWER.

Hope means I CAN'T.

Hope cannot exist if we ACTUALLY take our power, since there would be nothing to hope for, only doing.

Creating your own reality IS POSSIBLE, but not without some serious changes on all levels in all that their is, and none of those changes can be achieved by HOPE.

Having hope, drive or ideals that motivate you and then losing it as it being taken away from you?

Is hope really, try, try again?

I used to lurk on this site off and on for years, but I was just talking to my wife the other day about hope and figured what the hell, this might be a sign for me to voice my opinion so I finally registered and this will be my first post. Disclaimer: I hope you like the word hope

Let me start off by saying that I believe hope is one of the most (if not most) important motivators on the Earth. I know a lot of people will say love, but I would have to kindly disagree. People think they do crazy things for love, but in reality they are doing it in HOPES that whatever crazy gesture or stunt they are pulling will win over the other person's affection. A soldier fighting overseas loves his family, but what drives him through is not necessarily the love itself, but the HOPE that he will survive and make it back to see his loved ones. I could name other examples, but this is already going to be long so let’s get to the question at hand.

I believe both hope(ful) and hopeless(ness) come in two separate states:physical and emotional. You can be emotionally hopeful in a physically hopeless situation, and also feel emotionally hopeless in a physically hopeful situation.

For example, most of us live in pretty hopeful societies and don’t really realize it. You can lose your house, job, significant other, etc. and can feel one of two ways:hopeful or hopeless. Sometimes, you can start off with one and end with the other. You might lose your job and feel hopeless. After you fill out some applications and get a few interviews lined up, you might to start feeling hopeful again about that particular situation. The opposite is also true. You can lose your job and are hopeful that you’ll find a new one. After the application process you find that none of the places you applied at called you back, and start to feel hopeless. Most people would say that feeling hopeless in that situation is unnecessary (and I agree), however they overlook the fact that the reason we feel this way is because we live in a society which offers a culture of hope. We have resources available for people who have no homes or food. There are places you can go to try and find love if that’s what you’re after. We have systems in place to help people who feel hopeless find some hope that whatever goal they’re going after can be achieved.

Now, let’s take the above example and move it to a place that doesn’t offer a culture of hope, let’s say North Korea. If you lose your job there and can’t get another one, are we to tell that same person that they have no reason to feel hopeless. Do we tell them if they would just have some hope that they could change their reality and be able to feed their families. Of course not (at least I HOPE you don’t feel that way). We know that they are physically in a hopeless situation. There is nothing in place there to help the poor and needy (the people who coincidentally have the most hope).

I’ll use one more example. Let’s just say for some unknown reason you end up kidnapped by extremists in Syria. While the situation may be physically hopeless, you may still try and find emotional hope. You hope that you are rescued. You hope that maybe if you’re not rescued you can somehow find a way out of there yourself. You may hope that they won’t mistreat or torture you. At the end of the day, the more time that passes even the most hopeful person on the planet will start to feel hopeless. You haven’t been rescued, you can’t get out of there on your own, and are getting repeatedly tortured. What happens in that particular situation? Maybe the person then goes from hopeless back to hopeful, only this time the hope may be one of a quick death. So a person can go from feeling emotionally hopeful to hopeless, back to hopeful, all while maintaining the same physical hopeless conditions.

I also want to bring up a little side thing while I’m on the subject: the correlation between optimism and hope. While they are not the same thing, an optimistic person will probably be more likely to feel hopeful than hopeless. Just as a pessimistic person may feel more hopeless than hopeful a lot of the time. Try and keep that in mind when you are having trouble figuring out why someone is having a hard time developing hope, or why someone you know just can’t accept the fact the world isn’t “all ice cream and rainbows”.

In conclusion, I want to thank everyone who took the time to read this. I’m sure some of you don’t agree and that’s fine. I enjoy thought provoking conversations especially in a place where everyone is allowed to voice their opinions and disagree in a civil manner. This also all could have been an incoherent 6AM rambling. I’m not really sure at this point. Either way, I sincerely HOPE you all have a great day!

Hopelessness, when one can no longer dream of realities outside of ones true reality.

All it takes to have hope, is to have someone tell you that you have never met before, ..

"Find something that makes you smile, everyday. Anything."

a reply to: Profusion

The only blessing to the entire incident was that at the bottom of the jar, layed the gift of hope.

- Pandoras box

a reply to: Profusion

It seems to me that the basic problem with most people that believe in the “You Create Your Own Reality" concept is that they're totally unrealistic about their belief as I described above.

It seems to me that you're deeply overthinking things that aren't meant to be deeply overthought.

For any given person there is a spectrum of "probable realities" that could come as a result of any given choice. The spectrum could range from an awful "probable reality" to a wonderful "probable reality" but you can only get a result from among the possibilities that could possibly occur.

That is relatively more realistic than believing that literally "anything" is possible.

It is a common phenomenon in science that individuals take ideas from others and then simplify them for the masses, completely changing the form it takes. Since science and delusion are related, it isn't unrealistic to assume that it is a similar process.

In my perspective, experiencing hopelessness is a sign for someone to reflect deeper on their situation. It's challenging having to accept the cards life deals us. I feel there's a lesson behind this.

Being forced to confront our fears is scary. Either give up what one is scared to lose, or consider what's left over once the worst comes to pass...

I like reversing it into "what is hope?"

I think I read hope is "anticipation that the future will improve".

Hope is an old concept:

"In mythology[edit]
Hope appears in ancient Greek mythology with the story of Zeus and Prometheus. Prometheus stole fire from the god Zeus, which infuriated the supreme god. In turn, Zeus created a box that contained all manners of evil, unbeknownst to the receiver of the box. Pandora opened the box after being warned not to, and those evils were released into the world; Hope, which lay at the bottom of the box, remained.[42] In Hesiod's Works and Days, the personification of hope is a spirit named Elpis.

Norse mythology however considered Hope (Vön) to be the slobber dripping from the mouth of Fenris Wolf:[43] their concept of courage rated most highly a cheerful bravery in the absence of hope.[44]"

en.wikipedia.org...

Perhaps hope and hopelessness are similar to pessimism and optimism.

My partner is reading Candide the Optimist by Voltaire. The conclusion seems to be
1. Stay in your room cocooned from life.
2. Expose yourself to life with all it`s ups and downs.
en.wikipedia.org...

When exposed to the ups and downs treat them the same.

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;"

www.poetryfoundation.org...

Hope and hopelessness are two sides of the same coin. Once again it is all about perspective.

If one is grateful, hope is seen everywhere.

Perhaps there is a lot of ingratitude round as man starts to believe he controls nature.

originally posted by: Profusion
I used to think that too until I started deeply debating with woo woos.

Are you saying that you have deep debates with vaginae, or does your method of 'debate' consist of ad-hominem attacks and dismissal therein?

'Hope' is a symptom of vanity, and, ultimately, insanity!
It means that we have 'judged' the present moment and find it 'lacking', somehow!
Probably not 'comfortable' enough for you...
So you make the continued vain attempt to 'pull' (magically, or maybe get God or whatever to do it for you) that for which you 'hope' toward you! To 'suck' it into your life, somehow.
It is the vanity of "Dear God, let MY Will B Done! Now! Abracadabra in Jesus name.... Ah-man!"
A healthy person would be so busy being Lovingly, Humbly Grateful for that which is Here! Now! Certainly not 'judging' it!
That is the vanity of the ego! Pride! Insanity!
The ego = 'thought'!
So, 'hope' is a symptom of a Pride infestation!

Love = God = Heaven!
Here! Now!
Anything other than Love = sin = insanity = Hell!
Here! Now!

All health; physical, mental, emotional, spiritual... is based on the ability to Love!
Anything else... is insane!

The eye of Love never 'judges', never sees 'evil' or 'good', never sees an 'enemy'...
All the eye of Love can see is the Beloved!

This is why 'religion' is based on 'hope'!
Beliefs are imagination! Vanity!
Hope makes us feel so warm and fuzzy (I guess), but all 'feelings' are 'thoughts'! The same ego! The same vanity!

'Hope' is the dark opposite of Faith! The ego's cheap imitation/seduction!
'Faith' is a Virtue!
Love can ALWAYS be recognized by it's face of Virtue; Compassion, Humility, Gratitude, Empathy, Sympathy, Happiness, Honesty, Faith, Charity (not taking more than your share of anything! Ever!)...
Where there is Love, is Virtue!

So, 'hope' is rather a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Of course the 'belief infested' ego wouldn't/couldn't bear to hear this, not when the lies are soooo waaaarm and sssooooft and soooooothing! *__-

(Feel free to call me a "woo woo" (or whatever) and you'll have the last word! *__-)