The essence of living. QC prompt #112.

“To live without hope is to cease to live.” — Fyodor
Dostoyevsky

I truly agree with the quote above for when hope is lost, living becomes difficult. No creature can survive this troubled world without hope. We all have the ability to desire for something to happen and when we stick with that desire in us, trusting that what we desire will manifest, them that is hope.

Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for something good to happen

Hope to me is more than a feeling. It might begin as a feeling but then it grows into something tangible that one can almost touch it. The expectation of a desire keeps us at the edges our seat, waiting for what we hope for to materialize. It is akin to a football match between two strong teams. Fans of each team are expectant that their team would win and they show this expectancy by cheering on the team. As time progresses and neither team has scored a goal, tension feels the atmosphere that one can cut through it but when one of the teams scores a goal, the happiness of the fans knows no bounds.

My story

I once hoped to attend a tertiary institution in another country, precisely Ghana. I liked their accent and I heard that they had sound teachers plus their schools hardly shut down due to strikes and all that as compared to most tertiary institutions in my country. My hope was high as I had even received my parent's approval and support to study Medicine in Ghana. I had even mentioned it to my friends in school that I won't attend a tertiary institution in the country and they seemed happy for me. I studied hard, wrote the West African Examination popularly called "WAEC* and when the result cane out, I passed successfully. I met the criteria of the proposed institution and that made my hope rise but not for long.

Some months before I would begin the process of registering for the admission procedure, my mom fell sick and all our attention was geared towards helping her recover. At first we thought the illness to be something that would require just a few days admission in the hospital but the doctor's report shocked us. She was diagnosed with acute kidney failure and ahe had to use a dialysis machine to help filter her wastes from her blood. A dialysis session costs hundreds of thousands in my country and that was how the funds which would have been used for my education were diverted to cover medical bills.

I watched as my hopes of having quality education in a foreign country were dashed and my mom's health deteriorated. It was a huge blow and I almost lost all hope of ever graduating from a university but something helped me not to fall imto despair completely and that is the thought that....

"There's hope for a living dog than for a dead lion".

This wise saying helped me not to lose all hope. I understood that I couldn't attend a foreign school but I could still do well here in my country. I realized that the potential to realizing my destiny lies within me and that I have it in me to become the best I can be. This orientation gave my hope a boost and today I can say that it was worth it.

For those who might be going through a situation that seems like all hope is lost, my advice is to hold on. As long as you are not dead, you are not out, you are still in the ring and that means you can still win. Maybe the thing you hooed for didn't materialize, then go ahead and hope some more for other better things. Broaden your horizon, believe in yourself and work towards becoming a better you. Doing this will surely reignite hope in you again.

Thanks for reading..shalom

Images used are mine.