Hope for the Future

You’ve got to believe.

The Voyage of Life: Youth by Thomas Cole, 1842 (public domain — Wikipedia)

“Every man takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world." — Arthur Schopenhauer, 1851

Let’s face it: no one knows what the future will bring.

We may have a fairly good idea, based on what we’re told, or what we’ve witnessed previously.

But there’s something that makes a difference in how we chart our own course.

Call it optimism, the power of positive thinking, or belief, it all points in the same direction. Before we reach a future state, we need to envision what the future looks like, and then chart a path there.

Kate O’Neill, in her book A Future So Bright, counsels us to embrace strategic optimism — not blind faith or senseless optimism. But in a way to approach the future with realism.

Optimism, she writes, is “hope as a service.” But what is it in service of?