I feel like maintaing hope is analogous to maintaining the light in a lighthouse. I try to maintain hope to feel like I’ve accomplished something, or to keep optimistic. I don’t maintain hope solely for myself though, I do it for others, so that in dark times they may see as a guiding light. A reason not to give up quite yet, and to carry on. Sometimes I do maintain hope for selfish reasons though, hoping for something to happen, or for someone to come back when I know it won’t happen.
When this happens I tend to put a lot of effort into maintaining that lighthouse, only to be disappointed no ships find my light. Sometimes we have to realize though that once certain ships set sale, they won’t come back. Whether they became lost along the way, or simply chose a different path, we have to accept that we won’t see them again. We have to be cognizant of the fact that not everything will happen the way we want it to. When a relationship crumbles, or a romantic interest doesn’t feel the same way you do. Instead of hoping things will change, and then being disappointed when they don’t, we just have to accept sometimes some things are just the way they are.
Investing hope into the wrong things can become a vicious cycle, and subject you to a rollercoaster of emotions. I’ve made that mistake plenty of times, and came out the other end utterly exhausted. This doesn’t mean let bad storms keep you from maintaining your lighthouse though, you wouldn’t want one (or more) event(s) to cause you to let the light in your lighthouse go out. In conclusion, don’t let your hope fade, but don’t pour too much hope into certain things either.