The Roots and Impacts of Hopelessness, and Strategies for Overcoming It (Part 3)
In the discussion of Hopelessness, many factors play a destructive role in its emergence and occurrence. Each of these factors, depending on its significance as a root cause, can have lasting and impactful effects. Addressing some of them requires more time and stronger remedies. One reason for an individual’s descent into Hopelessness is successive failures in their personal and professional lives, as well as the inability to achieve their goals. In this section, we will delve into this particular cause and examine its essence.
2. Successive Failures
Allah has created humans as striving and active beings. They always seek to achieve success and aspire to great heights. They do not stop trying and continue to move step by step forward until they reach what they desire, ultimately savoring the sweet taste of success from their efforts.
Individuals engage in various activities and take on different jobs in pursuit of the paths that excite and motivate them. They strive to find that one thing they seem to have been created for, something in which they can excel and ascend to the highest levels. They quickly adapt to the twists and turns along the way, achieving significant results in a short time. This is because humans thrive on relentless and continuous effort; stagnation and immobility contradict their nature and disposition.
However, there are times when every effort faces a closed door—akin to throwing a stone into the darkness without a clear aim or defined target.
Obstacles arise along the way, growing taller, and individuals neither understand why they exist nor have anyone to blame or hold accountable to relieve their frustration.
In such circumstances, along with the myriad emotional and psychological damages, including confusion and distress, one also experiences Hopelessness—Disappointment caused by failures, setbacks, falling behind, stumbling, slipping, collapsing, getting wounded, hitting dead ends, and facing impasses. This Hopelessness infiltrates every part of a person’s being, consuming them little by little like a relentless parasite.
When individuals reflect on the extent of their efforts, everything seems orderly and organized. When they review the path, they have taken, the direction appears correct. When they analyze their goals, they find them clear. When they count their steps, they find them numerous. Yet, they are left wondering why it didn’t happen, why it didn’t yield results, why their efforts bore no fruit, why their hard work withered away, why the buds of their endeavors wilted, and countless other questions for which there are no answers. These unanswered questions only feed Hopelessness, weakening one’s spirit and disrupting the individual’s resolve, distorting their stance and resilience.
A human being is a composition of emotions and inner states, and at times, they are gripped by negative and restrictive feelings, one of which is Hopelessness. However, this type of Hopelessness is temporary and fleeting and can often be overcome relatively quickly. Yet, the critical period is when this affliction takes hold of the soul, suffocating the spirit and leaving it breathless.
