When I started the Philosophy degreea teacher gave us a warning which, in my youth, seemed exaggerated: “No one comes out here as a philosopher. That, if it comes, will be given to you by the readings and thoughts that will accompany you throughout your life.«At that time, I took it as a excess of academic romanticism.
Now after years of continuing to read, think, change, expand and replace opinions, I know I was right. Philosophizing is a vocation that is never completed; It’s a way of living, not a state that is reached. Therefore, I try to always be in contact with philosophy, whether classical, modern or contemporary.
Does optimism mean waiting?
On this path, Byung-Chul Han and his book The spirit of hope They offered me a distinction that opened my eyes: the difference between optimism and hope.
Today we live under the obligation of optimismthat faith that assures us that everything will work out just by maintaining a positive attitude. But, as Han points out, That optimism is a simplified version, almost empty, of which It means waiting.
Optimism tells us: “everything will be fine«. But hope, much more complex and profoundtells us: “I don’t know how things will turn out, but I know they make sense«And there is the clue.
Hope does not promise immediate success nor guaranteed happy endings, but anchors us in the present with a more genuine connection with what we do and live. Han describes how our culture has replaced hope with optimism because the first requires effort, patience and, above all, sense.
We are obsessed with search for immediate and positive results, and that leaves us with no room to reflect about what meaning there is in what we do. We have become accustomed to empty promises of optimism and, in the process, we have forgotten how to cultivate hope.
hope is to find meaning
In our language, there is something precious in words «sense» and «destination»: the same letters, but in a different order. This little game reflects an essential truth: find meaning in our lives It is not something accessory, it is what takes us to our destination.
In the end, it doesn’t matter if the road is straight or full of curves; the important thing is that Every step has meaning.
The hope invites us to flee from what doesn’t make senseto leave behind what it disconnects us of ourselves. And this doesn’t mean that we will always know where we are going or what awaits us, but it does mean that the path, although uncertain, will be authentic.
He optimismInstead, it pushes us to ignore those signs. It tells us that with enough positive attitude everything will be fine, even if What we do lacks purpose.
listen to your body to find the meaning
Buthow hope is cultivated? Byung-Chul Han does not give closed answers, but he does give some clues. The hope requires that we slow down, let us stop to listen what really matters. Requires presence, connection with others and with ourselves. And, above all, it requires that let’s stop obsessing about results and let’s worry about meaning again.
The challenge, of course, is know what makes sense. But, deep down, we know it. Sometimes, all we need to do is ask ourselves and, above all, be pay attention to the body’s signals.
That feeling that appears when something connects us with our truthwith what we are. Because the body does not lie, and many times The answer is not in the mind, but in that physical reaction that tells us if something resonates or not.
It’s like, they say, happens in love. When it’s a yes, it’s a yes; When it’s a no, it’s a no. And when it’s “I don’t know,” it’s also a no. Clarity about what makes sense It’s there, always, yeah we learn to listen to it. What we cannot do is ignore these signs, because Living without meaning is like walking to nowhere.
Reconnect with hope
Therefore, we must reconnect with that hope which tells us that, although we do not know exactly how things will turn out, the important thing is move in the direction that resonates with our truth. Unlike the optimismthat lives on external expectationsthe hope is nourished by that internal certainty what are we about walking on the right path. A path that, although not easy or predictable, will always make sense. Because only meaning, and not mere positivity, is what takes us to our destiny.