Hope is a working hypothesis worth testing.

Treating hope as a hypothesis rather than a feeling makes it testable. You can act as though the good outcome is achievable, gather evidence, and revise, which is a very different posture from either blind faith or refusal. It also means disappointment becomes data rather than proof you were foolish.

State what you hope for as something that could be checked, and design a small experiment. Run it. Either you learn it is achievable or you learn what stands in the way, and both are progress.