I need to speak up to address something. I’m beginning to see a lot pessimism here. People are saying we need to be realistic about what we believe is going to happen. They say we need to lower our expectations to avoid being crushed by defeat. What they are saying is that they think nothing has actually changed enough to matter and that we are a fragile bunch who cannot weather the defeat they think is inevitable. They will say they only think it is possible and that we should be prepared for a bad outcome, but the truth is they have already reached a conclusion, and they want others to agree with them to affirm to themselves that what they fear is accurate. So they tell us that the idea of winning is unrealistic.

But that is not how any war has ever been won––in the entire history of the world. An army that perceives that attitude in their enemy knows the victory is already in their hands. The world is also not changed by people who fear the establishment’s power to keep things the same. It is changed by the brave who will stand through any adversity to make sure it does change.

If I didn’t know better, I would think that we have been infected by the despair of Patriots.win. It is as if they looked over the divide and decided to bring us down to their level of pessimistic fear because could not endure our positivity and optimism.

It is certainly prudent to be realistic about the intentions and tactics of our enemies, but that should never extend to giving the battle away for the sake of our feelings because we might lose. That is surrendering before we even start, and it is not in the fierce heart of a warrior who keeps one thing always in focus: winning the war.

There is much at stake, and it should be no surprise to anyone that our enemies will keep fighting while they still stand. Are we going to be disheartened when they didn’t fall in the first volley of fire? Did we expect to be home in time for supper after an easy victory? What kind of people are we? Are we people who forge ahead despite opposition or setbacks, or are we people who give into despair and lower our weapons for the enemy to come and take?

Pessimism is not being realistic, and we need to see it for what it is: a tactic of our invisible enemy to rob us of our strength. If hope is deterred by setbacks, it was not hope. It was evaluation based upon circumstances, unsteady and changeable as wind. True hope looks beyond circumstances to see what is possible, and it gives the strength to make it happen. Hope is far from being a useless emotion, and those who say so don’t understand what hope actually is. A warrior who doesn’t hold high the hope of winning will die on the battlefield––or he will run away to save his skin. The only alternative to hope is fear, and those who throw away their hope do it because they are afraid. That is not an option. Fear is the thing we are supposed to be fighting.