Jew - Hope and other cover stories

( 1 )

When I was young, I had two funny dreams. I say funny because whenever I told someone about them, they would laugh.

My first dream came to me while admiring the magnificent castles in France that I saw in a colorful landscape photo book. I wanted to own one of those castles.

Once, someone laughed and said, “Try to marry a millionaire.” That made me feel a little embarrassed. It was funny, but why did she laugh and say, “Try to be a millionaire?” Why did she try to marry a millionaire? Was my dream a dream that a girl could not have? Had I ever dreamed a dream that a girl could not have realized in any way?

I had been a slave for months, weighed down by incomprehension, anger, and resentment. Then that dream really began to fade away from me.

Another dream was to become a writer. They laughed at that dream too.

But I didn't regret that dream. The dream grew stronger over time, and when combined with certainty and preparation, it rose to the level of hope.

That hope was always there, ready and eager, in my heart and mind. When the opportunity presented itself, I just had to take one step. That step took my life to where I wanted it to be.

Is a ridiculous dream really credible? Is it really powerful? Aren't there people who take steps and get nowhere? Why are there so many people who can't make their dreams come true?

There is only one answer to those questions. That is also a question.

"Are you sure the dream has been transformed into a hope?"

The seed of hope

A dream is the embryo of hope, and hope is a healthy baby. It is difficult to capture a dream. It is even more difficult to give birth to hope from that dream. A dream fades away into obscurity and disappears. The embryo can be destroyed in the womb. It can be destroyed in the womb. It can be destroyed during birth. It can be destroyed in the months and years after birth.

Dreams are worthless when they are achieved, but they are valuable when they are shattered. Because the pain of losing a dream is immense. Therefore, let us say that hope is invaluable. When hope is shattered, a person's life is ruined.

I will never forget the story of a child whose hopes were shattered in the short story “Ba Gyi Aung Nyate” by Master Min Thuwan. That child’s hopes were as precious as his life. When his hopes were shattered, his life was ruined.

Those who live with hope

All humans often refer to themselves as "people who live with hope." Similarly, the phrase "hope doesn't always come true" is often used and complained about.

Why can't we have hope and not realize it? The question is, did we really hope for a certain situation? Every human being has a desire to improve and improve their current life. They have a desire to improve and improve their current situation. They want to be a life that is more developed than their current situation. Is that desire alone hope?

We need to understand the true meaning of hope. How many times have you analyzed your own hope?

For a person to have hope, he must love something passionately. Only those who love life can have hope. But most people love life. That is why the saying "People live with hope" was born.

A housewife has hope. A worker has hope. A doctor has hope.

"There is hope in a housewife"

We need to study the expectations of the housewife in the story. What are the expectations of the housewife, who is responsible for cooking for the household every day and going to the market? What do you expect?

Do they expect prices to fall? Absolutely not. They have no expectations for prices to fall. Do they expect the market to be kind and the weights to be accurate? Absolutely not. Do they expect their husbands to earn more? Absolutely not.

It is not hope to dream about things that cannot be changed by one's own efforts. So what is their hope? To be more systematic and correct in spending one's daily expenses day by day, to use the concept of less and more, and to be confident in the results. This is the hope of an ordinary housewife.

What is the expectation of an employee? Is it a general salary increase for all employees? Absolutely not. Moreover, salary increases are not always a valid reason for their livelihood. They already know that even with the slightest hint of a salary increase, prices often skyrocket.

The employee's hope is to advance in his or her position. The desire for promotion is not only due to a desire for a salary increase, but also due to a desire for greater authority.

An employee's expectation is to strive for a higher position and authority, and to evaluate opportunities accordingly.

What is the hope of a doctor? To try to cure patients with his treatment, and then more and more patients will come to rely on him, and because of the cure of those patients, his fame, influence, and standard of living will increase.

Housewives, employees, doctors, etc. are people who have chosen to limit their lives, so their hopes are the "limited hopes" of those who have "chosen."

For someone who has chosen a life as a housewife and is content, the hope is not to become a movie actress. For someone who has chosen a life as a doctor, the hope is not to become a pilot.

From these points, it is clear that hope is not just a wish. What is hope?

Before we try to figure out what hope is, it would be a good idea to try to figure out what hope is not.

Common desires that are not expectations

Is it hope to imagine that someone would win 500,000 won by betting 50 kyats on the lottery?

Hope is not "imagining the future" that relies on fate.

Is it hope that a student with low intelligence, no effort, and a lazy mind could achieve honors in all subjects in the tenth grade?

Mere wishful thinking without any effort is not hope. As things stand, not all cancers can be cured. There is no cure for AIDS. Should humanity wait for the creation of time to find a cure for these diseases? Maybe someone will find a cure next year. Maybe someone will find a cure next decade. Maybe someone will find a cure next century, etc. Is it hope to wait for time without taking the time to try and find it yourself?

"Time will tell"

I have seen that phrase used often. It is a phrase that should be accepted only with exceptions. For something that has happened and cannot be changed, we may have to wait for the end of time to calmly accept it. But when it comes to something that has not yet happened, time has no say in the matter.

Nothing can be achieved without trying to make it happen. Worshipping time and the future is not hope. Can the existence of desires and wishes be called hope, as many people think? If so, can those who want to own more cars, houses, and land be considered people who live with hope? In fact, they are not. They are just people who are eager to spend more. They are not people who have hope.

The goal of hope, or the karma of action, is not a thing. It is a fuller life. A more vibrant, more free state. In religious terms, it is called “salvation.” Or in political terms, it is called “revolution.” Only when that state of mind is achieved can we say that there is hope.

However, if it involves passiveness and waiting for, it cannot be considered hope. It would be a wish that involves patience and surrender.

The German writer Kafka beautifully illustrated a type of desire that involves such tolerance in a novel: Before the Law.

A man comes to a gate leading to heaven or the law and asks the gatekeeper for permission to enter. The gatekeeper refuses to let him in. The gate is already open, but the man decides to wait to be admitted.

So he sat and waited for days and years. He repeatedly asked to be let in, but was refused. During those years, he studied the gatekeeper constantly. He even learned to recognize the little gnats that clung to the fur collar. Finally, he grew old and neared death.

For the first time, he asked the gatekeeper a question. "Even after all these years, no one has asked to enter this gate except me. How is that possible?" Then the gatekeeper answered.

"No one but you can enter through this door. Because this door was intended for you. Now, Kyat, this door is closed."

He is too old to understand that. But if he were still young, he would understand. A person like him cannot dismiss the words of bureaucrats.

If he had had a little more courage than the waiting creatures, he would have dared to resist the Rocrats and reach the heavens of freedom, the bright palace. Now, people like him had to wait and wait for someone to give them the green light.

There are many people in the world like Kafka's old man. They cannot live in hope.

The meaning of hope

Hope is about truth. It is not a manufactured waiting, nor a stubborn and ill-conceived effort at a situation that has not yet come to pass. It is not a tired reformist ideology, nor a radical and unfounded adventurism.

Hope is a tiger lying quietly, crouching down. A tiger only pounces when the time is right for it to pounce.

To have hope is a state of being. It is a strong readiness within oneself. It is an awareness that is ready to use the power of action when needed.

It is an internal material for the construction of life. It is a continuous movement of the human spirit. Hope is connected to another internal material of human life. It is faith.