According to the tale of Pandora's Box, mischievous gods gave a curious woman a box and told her not to open it. What did she do? She opened it. Now, let's throw aside how true that could ring with a couple of people I've met in my life, and continue. Basically, an emo's wet dream came out. Despair, agony, fear, anger, sadness, all of the negative emotions came out of this box. She slammed the box, but not before almost everything got out. Later, she opened it again, and found that the only thing left in the box was hope.
Now, if you're on my friend's list, you likely knew that story. But the background must be relayed, I suppose. I pose this question to you. Was there anything good in Pandora's box?
Before you say "hope", stop and think for a second. Every poor man who spends rent money on lottery tickets does it because of hope. Casinos make millions by preying on the hopeful. Wives stay with abusive husbands because of hope. Every dumb gamble that was ever made, was made on hope. Almost every dumb decision ever made was made for one of two reasons... Misinformation or hope. First, hope is with the darkest emotions in the world, now it's with ignorance. I ask again, is hope a good thing?
Oh sure, some can point to great successes brought about by hope... Columbus's discovery of the New World, Magellan's expedition, among others... How many thousands died on the same quests so that those two could make a name? Heck, even Magellan died before realizing his dream. Not to mention the the new world was discovered by asians and vikings before Columbus set foot over here.
Hope lifts people high above the world, and all too often, dissipates into nothingness, leaving only the hard cold truth of reality far below. The fall down is far too often worse than that trip up.
Hope isn't a good thing, people. Risk if you must, but keep your feet firmly planted in reality. If you must hope, keep your expectations low to offset it. Never delude yourself with hope. The wakeup is far worse than the dream is good.
