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Running Head: Magnetic Hope

Magnetic Hope
David Richards
COMM122
13 April 2015
Sister Burk

Magnetic Hope

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To hope is to turn your face toward God. David Richards

A favorite movie of mine is Anne of Green Gables, the lines in it are desperately
priceless. The cut and dry Marilla Cuthbert, in response Annes declaration of having fallen into
the depths of despair (McDougall & Sullivan, 1985), said to despair is to turn your back on
God (McDougall & Sullivan, 1985). Elder Dieter F. Utchdorf spoke of despair as the opposite
of hope (Utchdorf, 2008). If, therefore, the opposite of hope is turning away from God and
rejecting His light and help, hope must be turning your face towards Him and welcoming His
light, truth, and promises. Some speak of hope as an anchor to keep you rooted and stable in the
typhoons of temptation. I tend to view hope as more of a magnet, when faced in the right
direction draws one toward Christ and exaltation. Hope, in my mind, is directional and not
stationary. However, to de able to hope and move toward Christ requires a knowledge and
acceptance of self, which in turn changes the way one acts around others. In the next few pages
allow me to expound on how increasing my self-awareness fueled my hope and how this hope
has improved my communication with the world around me.
In class we have spent a lot of time learning about and strengthening our self-awareness.
The some of the things I have learned specifically about my self were not new, but rather a new
way of looking at them. My strengths are a perfect example. I knew I liked agreeing with
everybody and I did not like contending opinions, but I always thought that was because of
weakness of character. It seemed I could not hold my own in a conversation and I felt more or
less spineless. One of my strengths is Harmony and it shed positive light on this and other
character traits. This knowledge, coupled with a research essay I did in English 101 about the
power of positivity, has taught me that there are positive aspects to everything. The direction I
am travelling in my life is toward heaven and the being positive about the traits and tool I am

Magnetic Hope

given to work with and having trust in the Lords goodness, really makes it possible to hope and
progress.
Most importantly I have am becoming liberatingly more aware of my true identity as a
child of God, endowed with the privilege and potential to become perfect, even as [our] Father
which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). The patriarchal blessing activity really helped me
to get a glimpse of my future. In that activity I had a spiritual experience and knew God has a
plan for me. One other point I have learned is I need to be careful in defining who I am, there are
so many tests that I have taken that have told me, I am like this, or like that, or like whatever. It is
good in helping me know what I am accepting when I accept myself, but I have to be careful to
not set these aspects in concrete. I remind myself that I may be like this now, but I will not
always be so. Life and progression is all about change, especially if we want to become like
Christ. The magnet of hope draws my strengths toward the potential of what God sees me as.
Being aware of who I am and the potential I have to become like Christ, and recognizing
that potential in others, naturally revolutionized the way I communicate. First, it motivates and
inspires me to create a shared pool of meaning. One thing I have been working on, as mentioned
in the previous application paper, is whole listening. People need to feel safe and accepted when
they speak, and if they are powerful potential children of God like I am, then there is so much I
can learn from them. In speaking with a friend recently, I tried to really focus on what she was
trying to say instead of all the excuses she was giving about not going to devotional. Because, I
tried to go beyond the excuses and noise, not focusing on solving those transitory difficulties, I
was able to recognize the root of her problems. Unfortunately, the conversation ended rather
abruptly before I could answer. I was grateful, though, for feeling like I was successful in
listening at that moment.

Magnetic Hope

In addition to listening, actually sharing meaning has been an important skill, though it
has been a little harder to develop than listening. A talent I have developed has been to be
diplomatic and say things in the least offensive way possible. This can be an excellent quality,
but I do have a fear of coming out, being honest, and saying what I think and feel. Like we
learned in our discussions of crucial conversations, that honesty and plain talk are lifeguards at
the pool. One day I approached an acquaintance to more or less have a crucial conversation
about something I felt needed to change. I started in a friendly manner and he was friendly too,
and that is where the issue I wanted to discuss died in my throat and though we talked for a while
it never did come out. I was a little disappointed, however, I was more pleased that I had
consciously put myself in that situation. These conversations are going to take some practice and
I am grateful to have opportunities to see how far I am willing to go and where I can improve the
next time around.
This class really has made a difference in my life. I am planning to on getting a job, when
I go home for the summer, in something that will give me the opportunity to practice the
interpersonal communication skills I have been learning. Also, I have decided to pursue a degree
in communications at BYU-Idaho, that is how attractive this kind of knowledge is to me.
However, more along the lines of hope, my face has been turned more towards God from all
these experiences and knowledge I have gained here. The self-reflection has helped me identify
the image of God in myself, which I can nourish and develop through His grace and power. I
would like to finalize with gratitude to God for bringing me here to LDS Business College for
this semester, and for leading me to this class. May the readers also be filled with hope as they
turn their faces to God and accept Him for who He is, our loving Father in Heaven.

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References

Matthew 5
McDougall, I. (Producer), & Sullivan, K. (Director). (1985) Anne of Green Gables [Motion
Picture]. Canada: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Utchdorf, D. F. (2008). The Infinite Power of Hope. Ensign. Retrieved from
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/the-infinite-power-of-hope?lang=eng

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