Hope: It Lightens, and Lifts!

Good day my fellow Steemians and friends of the blockchain; I hope you have hope!

Well, I made that statement: "I hope you have hope" on purpose. It's not a mistake nor a typographic error. It is exactly how I intend it; and sounds exactly how I want it! Let me rephrase it this way, I hope you haven't lost hope in life in general! You see, hope is very important in an individual's life because:

If hope is lost, all is lost.
~ProfLee

Without much ado, let me say what this post would help you in:

understanding what hope is.
understanding how hope lightens.
understanding how hope lifts.
understanding how to keep hope alive.
understanding the benefits of hope in life.

First and foremost, I really believe we would be doing ourselves a great disservice if fail to, first, get a general understanding of what hope is:
Hope Defined
Hope can be defined in so many ways by do many people. But, for the purpose of this study, I would like to define hope thus: Hope is the belief or expectation that something wished for can or will happen.

It's quite obvious that without the belief that something is doable, it's almost impossible to achieve or get done. Why? Because, you are a product of your belief system! And that belief is quite important because it shows you have hope!
There are few things I would really have you take home from today's post, and one of them is: hope lightens!

Link

How does Hope Lightens
Let me quickly start by saying that: "a mind without hope is a dark mind". It's a really dark one because such a mind would be blind to opportunities!

On the contrary, when one's mind is full of hope, you would quickly notice that the person begins to see opportunities that he or she never knew were present. That's the magic of hope!

Also, hope lifts. Do you know why some end up committing suicide? It's because they have lost hope on life. They are "down"! They need lifting, and how does that come about? Through hope; without any form of doubt, hope lifts! For instance, I once heard of someone who wanted to kill himself due to depression (by the way depression is a sign that one has lost hope on life). Fortunately for the person, he got the right information. He was very glad when he realized that there was still hope for him. And guess what happened? Hope did the magic. It lifted him!

Nothing lifts a man as much as hope does.* ~ProfLee

One question to ask ourselves is, how do we keep hope alive?
There are some things you can do to keep hope alive. Here are some of them: do what you love. Don't be engage in things in you don't like. Also, prayer can go a long way in keeping hope alive. Never stop praying! Lasting, surround yourself with people who inspire you to stay hopeful.

Benefits of Hope
Here are some importance of hope:

Hope lifts: as discussed, hope can take a man from the valley of life to the mount.
Hope builds confidence: the more hopeful you are, the more confident you can get.
Hope transforms: hope can transform your life into a better life.
Hope helps you in seeing opportunities you have previously overlooked.
Hope helps you to think outside the box.
Hope inevitably is what you need to achieve almost all, if not all your dreams.