HOPE – a value in focus
Saying happy new year is a wish of hope and is of particular relevance as we start 2010. For this reason, hope has been chosen as the value in focus.
What is hope?
Hope is having a belief in a positive outcome. Many faiths say that hope is a spiritual gift and a natural part of the human experience. A different opinion is that hope is a learned concept.
Hope can be both positive and negative experience. It can lead to optimism and positive feelings that become an inspirational and motivational force. Hope is often an important force that helps people to rise above difficulty. Alternatively, hope can be a disappointing experience. It can become an obstacle that prevents people from dealing with the reality of a situation.
Stories, myths and legends
The myth of Pandora and the box comes from ancient Greece. There are many versions of the same story. One of these describes Pandora opening a box. As it opened, all the evils escaped and hope remained in the box. Dreadful things started to happen such as war and famine. Pandora re-opened the box and released hope. This story is sometimes used to explain why hope often seems to follow difficult circumstances.
Quotes about hope
“Learn from yesterday, live for today and hope for tomorrow” Albert Einstein
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean: if a few drops are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty” Mahatma Ghandi
“Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man” F. Nietzsche
Questions
Do you work with others in ways that help them to be more hopeful? Could you do more? Do you honour the value of hope?
Snakes and Ladders and learning to live together in diversity
Background
The game snakes and ladders came from the Indian game translated as “The game of Knowledge”. Developed in 2nd Century BC it was originally developed as a tool to educate people about Hindu values. Each of the 72 squares on the board represented different positive and negative values. The ladders started with positive values and the snakes were found on squares showing negative values. This game was westernised in the nineteenth century and values were removed from the game.
Project Idea
We are excited about the possibility of finding partners to collaboratively design a new game of snakes and ladders, around the key values needed so that people can learn to live together in diversity.
Are you interested in being a partner?