Hope is the state which promotes the desire of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one's life

or in the world at large. Despair is often regarded as the opposite of hope. Hope is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to something with desire and reasonable confidence" or "feel[ing] that something desired may happen". Other definitions include: "to cherish a desire with anticipation"; "to desire with expectation of obtainment"; or "to expect with confidence" In the English language the word can occur either as a noun or as a verb, although hope as a concept has a similar meaning in either use.

History of hope
Alfred Adler said: We cannot think, feel, will, or act without the perception of a goal [12] Hope appears in ancient Greek mythology with the story of Zeus and Prometheus. Prometheus stole fire from the god Zeus, which infuriated the supreme god. In turn, Zeus created a box that contained all manners of evil, unbeknownst to the receiver of the box. Pandora opened the box after being warned not to, and those evils were released into the world; hope, which lay at the bottom of the box, remained

Understanding hope[edit]
Charles Snyder, Ph.D, one of the first developers of positive psychology, embellished upon the overlaying topic of "hope", relaying its subject matter within a psychological construct. Snyder created his "hope theory" while on sabbatical from the University of Kansas. Instead of finding evidence in a book in the library, he felt inspired to observe people and interact with them. Through his observations, Snyder was able to determine his own definition of "hope": "Hope is the sum of the mental willpower and waypower that you have for your goal Snyder continues his definition with these 3 underlying concepts:

Goals: Goals are objects, experiences, or outcomes that we imagine and desire in our minds." Snyder determines that the goals involving hope fall somewhere between an impossibility and a sure thing. Willpower: Willpower is the driving force in hopeful thinking (pg.9) Willpower draws on the perception of our desired goal as well as ones mental energy. It also depends on how well we understand our goal. Within psychotherapy, techniques are used to home in on ones desires and wishes, on how to focus on our goals, on how to obtain or attain them, based on tacit knowledge." Waypower: Waypower reflects the mental plans or road maps that guide hopeful thought There are important versus less important goals that play a par t in ones ability to plan through a goal, to map out a plan. Snyder says that hope is the mental

willpower and waypower for goals Research has found that persons with willpower thinking may not have waypower thoughts to their goals.

Measuring hope
Several researchers, after defining their concept of hope, have devised ways of how to measure the actual psychological construct. Snyders proposed "Hope Scale" measures a person's intended succession in congruence to their goals. Overall, their determination to achieve their goal is their measured hope. Fibel and Hale measure hope by combining Snyder's Hope Scale with their own Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale (GESS) to empirically measure hope

Hope versus optimism

The difference between hope and optimism: hope entails pathways and thoughts to an intended goal. Optimism leads one to expect the best, but it does not necessarily provide any critical thinking about how we are going to arrive at this improved future

Hinduism
In historic literature of Hinduism, hope is referred to with Pratidhi (Sanskrit: or Apksh (Sanskrit: ). It is discussed with the concepts of desire and wish. In Vedic philosophy, karma was linked to ritual sacrifices (yajna), hope and success linked to correct performance of these rituals. In Vishnu Smriti, the image of hope, morals and work is represented as the virtuous man who rides in a chariot directed by his hopeful mind to his desired wishes, drawn by his five senses, who keeps the chariot on the path of the virtuous, and thus is not distracted by the wrongs such as wrath, greed, and other vices In the centuries that followed, the concept of karma changed from sacramental rituals to actual human action that builds and serves society and human existence. The Hindu philosophy, as epitomized byBhagavad Gita, emphasizes that non-action is a hypocritical denial of human nature; rather, one must pursue action whatever be ones calling and duty with a right understanding of hope. The correct focus is a commitment to ones work for the joy of work, as a journey to learn or serve, for self liberation from ignorance, and without craving for immediate fruits; ones effort has a wrong focus if it only craves for immediate fruits (sarva karma phala tyagam