HOPE

There’s no doubt that ‘HOPE’ is an essential thing in our lives. Someone once said, “We can live a few weeks without food, a few days without water and a few minutes without air, but we cannot last a single second without hope.” Perhaps, hope gives direction in our life. Have you watched the movie named “Shawshank Redemption?” The main protagonist, Andy Dufresne, spent 19 years tunneling through the wall of his cell with his 11 inch Rock Hammer. He had the hope that one day he will be free. He used to share with his friend Red that hope is a good thing, may be the best things and no good things ever dies. A few weeks ago, I happened to read an article regarding the experiment of Dr. Curt Richter which I found very much interesting.

In the 1950s, Curt Richter, a professor at Johns Hopkins, did a famous drowning rats psychology experiment. This experiment, though cruel, demonstrated the power of hope and resilience in overcoming difficult situations.

Experiment One: Richter put rats into big buckets, half-filled with water. Even being a good swimmer-the rats on average give up and sink after 15 minutes.

Experiment Two: But in experiment two, he does something different. Just right before rats gave up due to tiredness and exhaustion, the researchers would pull them out, dry them off, let them rest for a few minutes.

And then again put them back into the water for the second round. In this second try- how long do you think rats lasted?

Another 15 minutes?

10 minutes?

5 minutes?

No!

Can you believe it?!! The rats lasted for 60 hours of swimming.

Because the rats believed that they would eventually be rescued, so they used every ounce of energy in their body to push away death.

I would like to add here, humans and rats are completely different beings and however, such experiment is absolutely abhorrent, as is most animal testing. We know that the findings of many experiments do not translate to humans. Yet, the findings from these experiments are very interesting. Putting the ethics of the study aside for a moment, these findings highlight the hope can play a significant role in our lives. Hope can provide the strengths and empowerment whatever hurdles and problems we encounter in our lives.

Aristotle said, “Hope is the dream of the waking man.” It is a surmountable energy and unshakeable belief that no matter how bad our situations and circumstances everything will be alright at the end.

Hope is a good thing, may be the best things and no good things ever dies.

-Andy Dufresne (Movie: Shawshank Redemption)

Experiment Link

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.536.1405&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Pradip Parajuli

I am Pradip Parajuli. I have been in helping profession since 13 years. To tell the truth, I am a new Life Coach practitioner. Yet prior to becoming a Life Coach, I spent 5 years working as a Counselor; and before that I used to work as a Social Worker and Program Manager in a reputed International Non-governmental Organization. I am practicing Counseling as well as Life Coaching. From the get-go, I loved life coaching. As I kept going and trained in Counseling, Hypnotherapy, NLP, Life Coaching (Beginner to Advanced), my belief that I had found my niche in life was cemented. That niche is to help people get unstuck and find more purpose and enjoyment in their lives.
I genuinely do understand when clients say they’re looking for a change, but don’t know what it is yet or how to achieve it. Because I have been there, done that and thankfully was lucky enough to walk away to now be doing a job where I never have to think “Thank God it’s Friday (TGIF).”