Can I Have the Definition Please?

Hope

Pronunciation: \ˈhōp\
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hopian; akin to Middle High German hoffen to hope
Date: before 12th century

1. To cherish a desire with anticipation
2. archaic: trust


You can't help but feel it. Anyone who has ever wanted anything ever knows what it feels like to hope. It can tie your stomach in knots, make you giddy, give you something to wake up the next day for. There's another word, though, that is closely tied to hope: disappointment. It's the risk you take when you open yourself up and dare to hope. However, the question is, how disappointed are you going to be?

My boyfriend is in the Army and currently deployed in Africa; he has been for four months now. His deployment was supposed to last until about September, but due to some paperwork mishaps there was (is?) a potential for him to come home within the next few weeks. Now, when I heard about this I tried not to get too excited. Things like this happen with the military all the time. Plus, I knew it would be for the best if he stayed down there the entire time; he'd be able to pay off his truck and save up money for school. But a tiny, selfish part of me desperately hoped that he would be coming back soon. Looks like disappointment is knocking, though because today I got an email from him saying he was told to cancel his flight back and wait a few days.

Now, disappointment and I are by no means strangers. That doesn't mean it hurts any less, though. The only thing we can do is deal with it, really. But how? Some get angry and blame someone (the system, God, etc.), some get depressed and mope about, and others handle it with grace. I hope (for lack of a better word) that I'll be graceful in this. In life you have to roll with the punches, keep swimming, what have you. If you stop hoping, you stop having things to look forward to. Like I said before, hope gives tomorrow a bright and shiny coat of paint. It makes things worth it.

Tomorrow is a new day, let's see what it brings. "In a moment there is time/ For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse..." And there are a lot of moments in a day.