Hi Peter,

I wonder if I suffered from chronic physical pain what my relationship to hope might be. The word courage pops into mind, as it takes a kind of courage to hope skillfully. I admire your courage Tee.

thank you Peter. I don’t think of myself as courageous, but when you’re faced with chronic pain, you have to find ways to cope and tell yourself that things will be better. Because in the short periods when I stopped believing it, I realized it’s impossible to live like that. So hope is almost as a survival/coping mechanism. In a positive sense.

I’m not that literate when it comes to Greek methodology, but I’ve just checked a few basic things about Pandora’s box. And it says that the word “elpis” can be translated not only as “hope”, but also as “expectation”. And if it means expectation, then I can imagine how destructive it can be. I think it’s in the same category as false hope and wishful thinking.

I don’t know why it remained in the box and what’s the meaning of it, but anyway, I think it’s good to distinguish between the false hope/expectation/attachment vs. the real hope of life renewing itself and healing. I think the latter is a good hope…