Hope?

The definition of the hope is the feeling that that events will turn out for the best. The definition of naive is to be innocent and gullible. So the real question is how fine is the line between hopefulness and naivety? When does holding out hope simply become a waste of physical and emotional energy?
Little girls grow up with the hopes that Prince Charming will someday ride up on his white horse, glass slipper in hand, and sweep her right off her feet. He'll be charismatic, handsome and rich, not to mention so badass he can slay dragons. Mothers will encourage this ridiculous hope. Now they know the kind of boy their daughter will bring home someday. He'll pull up in a white Monte Carlo, not a white horse; there will be no slipper, just a flask of Jack Daniels in the glovebox. He won't be taking her to a far away land, he's taking her to makeout point. Sure he'll be good looking, if you're into tattoos and lip rings; and he'll be a badass in her eyes when he gives you the finger and burns rubber out of the driveway. Of course, mothers also know that that novelty will wear off. Johnny Badass will ditch her for his buddies, get drunk and hit on her girlfriends, and make her pitch in for gas. Eventually she'll remember the fairy tale she was fed for so long and she'll start looking out the window for that white horse. Some girls will keep holding out hope, she'll hold out hope so long, it will cross the line over to naivety and then eventually she'll just snap-this is where lesbians come from. That was a joke, but probably not that inacurate. Others will give up completely and end up with a loser for a husband, figuring that her Fairy Godmother must've died. He'll lie, cheat, and steal, but she'll convince herself she's not the kind of girl that gets the fairy tale life. She'll never open her eyes and realize she deserves better, to her it's all or nothing-and she's certianly never going to have it all. She won't believe Tim McGraw when he sings of a real bad boy who is a real good man. The fall from hope was too much for her.
What about the little girl who sits on the steps waiting for her mommy to come home and tuck her in? She hopes her mother will miss her too someday. Or the little boy who wants nothing more than to play catch with his daddy, he hopes someday his father will put down the bottle and pick up a glove. Children will carry this hope right into adulthood, until they realize that they have crossed that line over to naivety too. When they realize that their parental unit has no business being a parent. Hope turns into naivety and naivety turns into anger and anger someday turns into indifference, but not before a couple bridges are burned, a couple lives are shattered, and a cat's in a cradle with a silver spoon.
Now there are times when we need to hope, when hope is the only thing that gets us out of bed in the morning. When she looks at the XRays and realizes she'll have to fight like she never has before, hope will get her through everyday. Hope will get her out of bed and drive her to chemo. Hope will take the place of her once gorgeous hair. Hope will fill her when she is unable to eat. And she'll be thankful for hope when she gets her clean bill of health.
Next time the butterflies flutter in your belly and you're praying your wishes will come true. When you're blindly hoping for everything to turn out how you want. When you're too stubborn to let go or in too much pain to want to. Remember, there's a fine line.