Self-deception vs. Hope

They say, you must have hope. Hope that hard times will pass, not necessarily that good times will come, but, hard times, will pass. Again I was talking to myself as I walked in the streets, as I sit on the bus. I was trying to convince myself to have hope. But with what can I make myself convincing?

Hope is a belief as to the future. If such belief is founded on data, physical empirical or observable phenomenon, we probably would call it a guess or a speculation. As such, it seems that hope is founded on one's sheer willingness to believe, to the extent, if you try hard enough to convince yourself to hope, knowing or without reasonable cause to believe, it may amount to self-deception.