Hope

Kelly Moran
Jul 21, 2017 · 2 min read

A brief reflection

Credit: michel_fertig via pexels.com

Have you ever found paper money on the ground? You probably have. How much did you find? Maybe a 5, maybe a 10? Maybe you found a twenty dollar bill. Let me ask you — wherever you found that bill, the next time you were there I bet you checked the ground again. Even if it was just a glance, you checked. But only when you were in that same spot again. I bet you did.

It’s not like you found a bill on the ground one day, and from that day on until forever you walked around with your face pointed at the ground thinking you might find another twenty. Even though from a statistical standpoint you’re probably actually less likely to find money in the same place twice. You have more chance of finding another bill on any other piece of ground then on the little spot you found one once already. But we’ll still check real quick next time we’re there.

Source: pixabay.com

I call that hope. We’re a hopeful lot. Some people might call that behavior optimism, but you don’t have to be an optimistic person for your eyes to dart on down to the last place you had a little luck. I am not an optimist. Don’t feel bad for me, I’m not a pessimist either. I’m a realist. Some people might say that’s actually pessimism trying to make itself presentable but let me describe myself my way, thank you. So I’m a realist not an optimist. But I hope. We hope. We hope despite the odds. And that is a wonderful thing.

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Where do you see hope?

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Written by

Anthropologist plying my craft in tech. Former consultant, now at Google. Writing on: UX Research | Travel | Reflections

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