Past, Present, Future and Hope

Inspired by "They Say that Hope is Happiness" by Lord Byron

They say that Hope keeps a man going through tough times and that it constitutes the laying foundation of his belief, his comfort and assurance even when things are at their darkest.

But how can man strive for hope, when hope itself is a hopeful delusion? How can we cling on to something so uncertain, so unpredictable, that we force ourselves to project our future aspirations to it in exchange for some unfounded clarity?

Men often long for peace of mind, as they set their sights on firmly establishing a life built on future happiness. In their quest for self-investment, self-fulfillment and misguided pursuit of happiness, they often forget self-enhancement and deviate from the morals that shape their present.

The future has become a possessive obsession to us, and the uncertainty that surrounds it is enough to paralyze our thoughts and subdue our actions. We spend more time pondering possible outcomes and their effects on our state of mind than actually basking in the passing moments.

And as briefly as they come, theses moments are but dying embers of a fleeting time that seemingly escapes us. An unconquerable source of power, yet the ultimate governor of our lives, Time remains the one true weakness of Man.

Whether it links us back to past joys and sorrows, or evokes projected fears and concerns over the mysterious and the uncertain, it is ever-present in our lives, haunting our souls at every minute.

At any time, we stare our past in the face, and it becomes a box of memories that we carry with us throughout the course of our actions and decisions, adding to it every step of the way. And with the lingering thoughts of our past selves dauntingly walking side by side with our shadows, where does Hope fit into this scheme?

Does it carry part of our burden by forecasting bright images of a foreseeable future? Or does it add to it by raising concerns and dilemmas that we ourselves had retracted to our subconscious in order to escape further pain and torture?

Is Hope the missing link between our Past and our Future? Or is it a manifest of a dying Present, trapped itself amongst fleeting memories and rising aspirations?

Our Present is but a mere illusion, an in-between state caught in the midst of a past life and a future one, a mirror of the anxiety and resentment that make up our experiences and constitute the building blocks of the ones to come.

And in this damning revelation, man stands between two stones, with the possibility of moving only one of them: Does he sell his soul to quench his materialistic thirst and build his empire, or does he dwell in the realm of the movable, touchable actions that can sensibly bring him closer to the notion of ‘Present’ that he seeks and possibly provide him with a sense of fulfillment and a drop of happiness?

Sometimes, it takes a person to remind us that Time is not continuous; it moves to a halt even for the briefest of moments…Sometimes, staring at a person’s eyes can make you forget you are living an instant, and stop Time from moving for a lifetime. 

At that moment, and only then may we acquire a sensible notion of the present, a rush of emotions like no other that transcends the space-time frame and takes us beyond the memories, the aspirations and the world as a whole…Sometimes a single word, a single touch or an unspoken silence can lift the burdens that we carry, shed the tears that we’ve locked up, and arouse strange feelings rooted deep within our hearts…Only at that particular moment do we start believing in Hope and all of its greatness. For it is not a missing link that ties our past bonds to future dreams, but rather a glimmering starlight, a revelation of an euphoric instant which captures the world in its wonders and its magic.

Hope is not the sword that fights our daily battles, it is the invisible scent that circulates everyday among us, and that few of us can capture from a single stare, an outspoken word or a cracking smile. It is the benefactor that lights our hearts, and the one true bringer of our “Present”.