Hope : The Light Of Life Hope is a word that everyone uses regularly. Therefore, it is something very familiar to all of us. Because no matter how difficult our life situations become, our inner mind sometimes tells us, "Everything will be alright. If not today, then tomorrow. Keep moving forward." Sometimes, when we are unable to tell ourselves this, the people who stand by our side will tell us. We often use hope during times of failure and also in the stages of achieving success in life. However, there is also a realization within these stages, and that is something we need to understand. The stage I mentioned earlier, "failure", is the time when we realize who is there to lift us up with hope. In today's world, it is a great thing to have people standing by us even during our failures. Because it takes a willing heart to set aside their own busy lives and stand by us when we need them. We should always hold such people close to Our hearts, whether it is during their failures or during our successes. When we face failure, we come to know the true faces of those who stood by us. That is why I wish to understand all of this. Sometimes, even when failure comes, the strength of our inner mind can turn it into hope, helping us return stronger than before, with new experiences and new realizations. The behavior of those who once stood by us, when they act as if we are nobody during our time of failure, may be what hurts us the most and causes us the greatest sorrow. At such times, we must understand something. If those people leave us during our failures, we should ask ourselves what it was that they truly liked before the failure came — was it something we possessed rather than who we really were? To understand all these things, we need to spend time alone. Only then can we gain clarity. In this era, I have often felt that very few people like being alone. Even I, who am writing this, do not particularly like being alone. Yet, despite that, there have been many situations in my life where I have found myself alone. It was then that I realized that if everything always happened exactly the way we wanted, there would be no real challenge or depth in life. Sometimes, I hope that there is a reason why the Divine allows such things to happen to me, that there is a purpose behind it, and that something better may be waiting for me in the future. Such thoughts and hope keep me going. Otherwise, what would life be without them? Just as I mentioned earlier, let us move on to the stage that comes after failure — success in life. “Success in life” is the kind of success that every person desires and hopes to achieve in their own life. Within it, there are many different forms of success, such as wanting a perfect and caring boyfriend to come into one’s life, wanting to build a good house, buy a car, study well and get a job, take care of one’s parents, become a social worker, live a wealthy life, travel to every place in the world before death, and so on. These, or perhaps even things beyond these, may be the kinds of success that each person desires in their own life. Beyond all this, I have always had a question: What should we hope for, and what should we not hope for? I found the answer to that question myself. Most people hope for good things to happen in their lives. When good things happen, they bring happiness. We are able to experience the intensity of that happiness, and whenever more joyful things happen in life, the same feeling returns again. When we experience happiness or success, everyone will be around us. But I had only heard the saying that when sorrow or failure comes into our lives, there may be no one beside us. I decided to understand that through my own experience. If you hear what I did, it may seem childish. Maybe, I do not know, but it is okay. The thing I am saying was never known to my family. I did not go and tell them either. Because what I am doing is wrong in front of them. Families always wish for their children to become successful. Because of that, all parents are selfish in matters concerning their children. My parents are also like everyone else. Even though I know all this, what I am doing may be wrong, but it is a wrong done to find the truth. I had to find it. If I say things like this, which parents would agree? Then they would not even let me study. So I did not say anything. One day, while I was studying, there was a scholarship examination. What happened was that all my teachers had hope in me. Not only my teachers, but my parents also had hope in me because I studied well. If I did not study, they would advise me and tell me to study. I studied as well, and I knew that I would succeed in the scholarship examination because I had prepared for it. However, knowingly, I wrote the wrong answers to those questions. Because of that, I failed the scholarship examination. At that time, I only had the understanding of being a student, that is, achieving success in life. Beyond that, I wanted to understand life experiences, and then continue living with the knowledge and experiences gained from them. It was that thought that led me to this. As I mentioned earlier, I failed the scholarship examination. Because of that, everyone criticized me, including my family. In my life, I have always given great value to my family. Yet, when they criticized me, I did not feel any sense of guilt. Because I am not completely saying that there is no value in a person having a lot of academic knowledge. Along with that, a person also needs basic wisdom. It is another thing that guides a person along the right path. There should also be the realization that only with that can one live in today's world. No matter how many books we read and study, or how much others tell us, we may not truly understand it. Instead, we must discover it ourselves and move forward in life according to the lessons given by our own experiences. I understood this completely when I failed the scholarship examination. Along with that, I also realized that sometimes we have to lose certain things in order to gain other things. Whatever situation we take, in the end, we will reach a state of being alone. Even if there are many people around us to comfort us, there are certain things that we can understand only when we are alone and isolated. At that time, you must decide whether to keep thinking about all the difficulties you have faced and sink your life deeper into darkness, or to find light within that darkness. For example, the sun does not always bring light alone. Even though the moon exists in the darkness, it always preserves its own light. You may know that on a full moon day, the moon shines brightly, but on a new moon day, its light is reduced. In the same way, because of the circumstances of life, some parts of a person's life may be dark. Yet, there will also be light. We must find that light and turn it into hope and continue living. However, there is no use in only sitting with hope. We must do the things that we need to do, and after that, hope for what we desire in that matter. Not everyone may achieve what they intend immediately, but we should never think that it is impossible. Life may sometimes be full of trials, but always remember that life will not test you forever. "Trust the divine timing and also trust yourself. If you want something, that too could be possible." END