The Mysterious Disappearance/Reappearance of Hope

Where does hope go when it goes away?

Hope is like a tonic. Imagine you're run-down and you basically feel like crap. (In my case, my imagination can take a rest here because I am run-down and feel like crap!) Along comes Dr. Herbal Health and recommends this tonic. You take it and lo' and behold, you feel great again! Instantly! Amazing.

Hope is like that. You feel like crap. The sun, as you perceive it, is never going to come-out again from behind those steely grey clouds. It's dismal, virtually hopeless.

Then WHAM! Along comes Hope! Just the faintest glimmer of it beams like the Sun in an endless blue sky. Gone are the grey clouds. Gone is the dismal rain. Hope beats down with a warmth and brightness to lighten even the darkest day.

But then, you start feeling like crap again. The clouds start gathering. The rain begins to fall. There's nothing to look forward to again. Everything seems futile. The sunbeams of Hope have disappeared again but where exactly did Hope go?

Is it that Hope is like the sun? Is it still there behind the dark clouds and we just can't see it? Or is it more like Hope just escapes like a frightened rabbit, only to poke its cute little head out of the ground when things grow calmer. 'Tis a puzzlement.

My Tom Robbinsesque imagination likes to think of it as the latter; a little scared bunny that high-tails it out of here at the first sign of trouble, peeking out only once the danger has cleared. Tsk. Silly rabbit.

I think most of us would like to think of Hope as the sun 'cause that way we can figure it's always there, it's just us that can't see it sometimes. Umm, yeh but I know I didn't put those damned clouds back so, who in the hell did? Like I said, I think it's better to think of Hope as a bunny. With patience and a little ingenuity, you can coax a bunny out of a hole. Coax as you like however, you can't coax the sun out from behind the clouds. It'll only come out when it's good and ready.

Be careful around that flippin' bunny though! One false move and it's back down the rabbit hole for Hope.

Timid little puke, ain't it?