What happens if you don't ... .?

On my way home today, I heard a song that I hadn't heard for a while and I realised I've often listened to music without really paying too much attention to the lyrics.

The lyrics that caught my ears was from a song by the lovely Irish band The Corrs, singing What Can I do (to make you happy).

The line in particular was:

"Who knows I might feel better.. If I don't try and if I don't hope"

In the song, the reference was with regards to a relationship but, I wondered about applying this in a different context... What if we generally didn't try or hope?

Just wondering....