March 06th, 2018 Week 10th Tuesday

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

抱最好的愿望，做最坏的打算。

To hope for the best and prepare for the worst was first said by John Jay in 1813.

Back then, that saying made sense because life was tough, conditions were tough and people had little control over their lives.

But in modern times, where life is easier with more conveniences than ever and we have more free will, living by that expression may stop us from pursuing what we truly desire.

Don't get me wrong.

There are still many situations today where this quote may make sense.

But in the context of love, I don't believe anyone can have true and lasting love or passion when living by this kind of philosophy.

Actually, preparing for the worst is always tinged with despair, which is the opposite of hope.

When we prepare for the worst, we may be planning for something negative that may or may not happen.

In order to prepare for the worst, we must look at our situation and love through the lens of despair.

Such visions would keep us from feeling hopeful and from focusing on our desired positive outcome.

So, it would be better to prepare for things we love with positive and hopeful visions instead of preparing for the worst.

By doing this, we would shift from despair to hope, and I always believe a man full of positive energy can be full of passions for what he is doing and that will help him win what he wants.

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.

失败可能会让你失望，但若不去尝试，就必定会失败。

From Beverly Sills.

Try again, fail again, fail better.

No one ever knows what is going to happen next.

And between something being set and things being uncertain, there are many transition times of enormous potential, everything would be possible.

When facing up with failures in life, it would make us feel good if we can accept failures for what they are.

If we can do that, we have the chance to make clear why we fail and how can we avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

Then we can find some opportunities in our failures.

When we begin to question what is really happening when there is a failure, we can discover some useful things that can help pull us out of failures.

Don't be afraid of failing, and don't stop trying, but make sure that we bring our brains the next time we try.