My intention with the word “validation” and the example of a person feeling better after hugging a tree may answer your question … “Can hope be a gift given?”
The tree … which has life … gives the “gift of hope” to the person hugging it … it’s the equivalent of a pat on the back by someone whom we respect. IMO … validation is absolutely necessary in life … yet … fellow humans are not the sole source of validation.
It may be the “driving force” you mentioned.
A gift instilled forever? That’s what I meant to write. Sorry.
I still feel the comments you wrote … the accident 
… helped lead me to a somewhat different … improved … understanding of the notion of hope.
I’m still not clear on your intention … do you mean hope as a gift instilled forever? … hope as an innate characteristic … like survival?
Can I light an eternal flame of Hope in others?
no need … the “eternal flame of Hope” is omnipresent.
Empirical evidence consistently confirms that periods … however long … of chaos, upheaval, turmoil … pushing the masses to the brink of despair … invariably something happens that restores peace, order and harmony … usually on a higher spiritual plane … until the next cycle starts it all over again.
OTH … you may be destined to be a “torch bearer” in the vanguard of a substantial transformation of the human species.
I’m old enough to remember a chorus line from the rock band “Mamas and Papas” … “the darkest hour is just before dawn”
One could make compelling arguments that we currently live in the ‘darkest age’ of all human history … despite all the glitter and gadgetry. Such a thesis stems from mankind’s unbridled confidence in science and general disdain … lip service at best … for anything spiritual.
If true … we live in a decidedly exciting and interesting time … we simply need lots of “torch bearers” to light the way forward … no need for aggression or violence … suggesting the time for patriarchal leadership is waning and the time has arrived for the feminine … with ovaries or not.
Be careful about trying to do that, WendyDarling.
Some flames of hope need to be extinguished because they are more based in illusion than realty.
Some flames of hope need to be kindled or rekindled because they show great possibility.
It’s kind of a “call all to mind” (Yeats) balancing act.
Hope is one of those things which can be both a curse AND a blessing.
It must be purified in the flames of consciousness and reflection and perhaps even non-sentimental compassion.
Just because “Hope Reigns Eternal” doesn’t mean that it must.
WD ~~ the kiln. 
Let me see the beauty which you have created afterwards.
Hope can certainly be structured on and born out of belief.
I think that it can be a part of a person’s essence - some people are naturally optimistic in nature…great brain chemicals and genes handed down.
But I don’t think that the above people see a silver lining at every turn. Their hope is born and bred through clearer lenses.
If
Why suicide? Why homicide? Why abuse the temple? Why anger? Why all the fear?
Why does the sun come up each morning? Why is the sky blue? How the hell should I know?? 
But since you asked …
Some argue that Confucius’s reluctance to discuss metaphysics with his followers stems from his fear of mass suicide.
Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. Jealousy has been the fuel for so many human ills/weaknesses since time immemorial.
Frustration has driven people to madness since time immemorial … people who believed the “eternal” resided in the body were stupid enough to believe mutilating the ‘vessel’ would reveal the “eternal”.
There is nothing to fear but fear itself … FDR. Fear is symbolic of the darkness … mankind has been living in relative darkness since time immemorial … fear has always been unavoidable.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE1FzSC8DBs[/youtube]
I have no idea, but it’s beautiful so let’s share a moment. It’s playing on my youtube mix.
Tom wrote
It kind of does fit into a place within the flesh. The soul has proportions and placement in our physical bodies, but the soul body and the flesh body are cooperative but not liken one another.
Tom? Did I scare him off Mags?
…probably making himself a coffee… or a tea… that’s what I just did.
Just finished listening to Divna Ljubojević Agni Partene … awesome!! Thanks
agree absolutely … IMO there is no way you can peel open the flesh to view the soul … and the soul body is exponentially more superior … brain/mind included.
… and out for a smoke too … yikes such a vile habit eh!
Tom,
I wasn’t asking about it’s potential in existence, I was asking about its specific location in each and every individual. Is Hope an actual embodiment, a sheathing of the soul? Obviously with abject violence and despair that sheathing is what, missing?
Tom wrote
I quit, but pine for it regularly.
A coffee / a smoke…? close enough
I have the odd cig or roll-up… we all need a small vice or two 
WD … you ask really hard questions … I’m no scholar/intellectual.
Let me try to share what I “see” …
I don’t “see” hope as a potential existence nor an actual embodiment.
I “see” hope as oxygen … at any given instance our body contains a certain amount of oxygen … enough to sustain life for a few minutes. If this finite amount of oxygen is not regularly replaced … well …
Most open air on the planet contains sufficient oxygen to support the human species … it’s quasi omnipresent … and we take what we need as we need it.
Seems to me there is some correlation between air quality on the planet and the aggregate human population. Maybe the increasing difficulty to extract the necessary oxygen from the air is analogous to the increasing difficulty to maintain a healthy degree of hope within.
Than again … maybe the above comments are a bunch of hogwash.