the dark side of hope?

Are hope and despair two sides of the same coin? Michael Schreiner commented that they are two sides of the expectations coin. Both hope and despair are focused on a set of future and unknown circumstances. Schreiner describes them as an educated guess about what will happen. He argues that hope is despair in disguise as if it is not supported by circumstances then the coin will flip and it will be replaced with despair.  
 
Hope can also be seen as delusional. It can be seen as a form of self-deception. Rather than facing up to the realities of a situation, hope may make someone ‘hope’ for the best.  This line of thought argues that hope may prolong suffering as rather than take responsibility for making changes, someone may hope for the solution to appear.  In addition, rather than accepting a negative reality they may deceive themselves.
 
Hope may be seen as preventing us from preparing for the worst. If we cling to hope rather than prepare and take action we may be overwhelmed when positive expectations are not met and negative realities occur.  This is a special type of magical thinking.  A belief that we do not need to anticipate or prepare for negative consequences as can just cling to hope that things will be better.
 
Hope can be seen as an abdication of our personal responsibility to solve problems for ourselves. If we hope that the ‘deus ex machina’ will arrive and save the day we may cease our own efforts.  if we maintain a false hope that a solution will come we may cease to work on our own solutions.
 
Whilst I acknowledge these challenges, I reject these characterisations. From my perspective, hope is an attempt to navigate an unknown future. I applaud the parties in mediation who have the courage to hope that they can make a better reality than the one they have inhabited.  Without doubt it takes courage to choose hope when bitterness and disillusionment beckon from the present and the past. As a problem solver I am interested in what works.  Does it help for parties to despair? Does it help for them to remain mired in blame? 
 
In mediation, I see people who have no reason to trust, deciding to make that leap so that they can motivate themselves to move forward.  Choosing hope is an acknowledgement that the alternative to hope is a never-ending battle. It is a defiant statement that empowers people to create structures and plans for tomorrow.

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