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Running head: The Power of Hope

Matheus Souto De Campos
COM 122 Section 06 and 07
April 3 2015
The Power of Hope
If you do not do all that you are supposed to do, sadly, your hope will be no more than just a
mere desire.

Everything that precedes a successful future is defined by hope. We should be optimistic

in life. By optimism, it is meant that one should firmly believe that the best would happen. This
belief will give us the moral boost to carry on with our efforts. Only hard and incessant efforts
will lead to success. For our efforts to be incessant, we should positively believe that we are
going to succeed. This sort of positive thinking urges us onward until we achieved our goals.
Instead, if we get discouraged and lose heart, chances are that we will fail. There is another side
to this, despite all our efforts sometimes happens that we do not succeed. If such a thing happens,
we should be prepared to accept it. We should remember that defeat is yet another step to
success. If we lose heart and remain inactive, we will be giving success no chance to help us.
Life as we all know is full of hard realities but at the same time it has a bright side also.
In reality life is really a mixture of success and failure, and nobody is entirely successful in life.
Likewise nobody is entirely a failure in life. If we fail once, the next time we may succeed. This
is true in whatever we do. It is always better to hope for the best and at the same time be
prepared for the worst. Such attitude will certainly help us in life. In this class I have learned
many key concepts that made me change the way I see the world. One of the things I realized is
that some people hang to past mistakes, forgetting to live in the present, which causes them to
lose hope for a brighter future.
I believe that hope is a skill that can be learned, improved and transmitted to others.
People with high hope do not let fear and despair run wild and create barriers that will impasse

Running head: The Power of Hope

Matheus Souto De Campos
COM 122 Section 06 and 07
April 3 2015

their progress. Interpersonal communication classes taught me how to understand myself. I

learned that instinctively I figure out what needs to be upgraded, enhance, or perfected in any
situation. I have a great desire to provide my family with the finest things, which motivates me to
work hard and achieve my goals. I rely less on emotion and more on logic to draw reasonable
conclusions, or in other words I tend to use my mind rather than my heart. I am quite
comfortable being alone with my thoughts, and I have little need to be constantly surrounded by
talkative people. Manual or mental labor give me some satisfaction when it helps me get ahead
financially. All this knowledge helps me create a stronger and more confident image of myself
because it teaches me what kind of person I am. Now I communicate and interact with people
more effectively because I know how to use my strengths in my benefit, and I can tell my story
more effectively as well. Even though I became a better communicator, I still have areas to
improve. For example, during crucial conversations I struggle with the ability to recognize my
feelings, to judge which feelings are appropriate in each situation and to communicate those
feelings effectively. As humans, we are connected to each other, how I express my emotions
affect the others. During conversations there is a change of words as well as a reciprocity of
feelings. If I am angry it is more likely that others will respond in the same way. Feelings and
emotions drastically change the way we use our strengths.
The group activity is a great example of how I have improved as a communicator. By
using my strengths I was able to help the group think in better activities and prepare the themes
that were going to be presented in class. I believe that the group was able to recognize my
strengths as a communicator, and identify me as an effective communicator. The daily
tribulations reach us, from the youngest to the oldest and the dependence in other peoples skills

Running head: The Power of Hope

Matheus Souto De Campos
COM 122 Section 06 and 07
April 3 2015

to work as a functional society is an undeniable reality. This fact makes this type of activities
very useful because it give us a chance to apply our strengths and prepare ourselves to face the
reality of the World.
I always loved the quote Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the
premise of progress, in every society, in every family (Kofi Annan). The experience I had
during this semester testifies of this truth. All the knowledge I received from the class certainly
gave me power, and that power gave me hope to show up and interact with the world. More than
any other time in my life I believe that the goals I set can be fulfilled because of my hope that I
will always have ways to improve my skills, and that they will help me overcome my personal
trials and tribulations.
In the world we have many things that can be the source of our hope, but when we
choose to follow our Lord Jesus Christ we will have an everlasting hope. We hope in Jesus the
Christ, in the goodness of God, in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, in the knowledge that
prayers are heard and answered. This type of hope refreshes us with courage during difficult
challenges and give us strength when we feel fear, doubt, and despair. If we repent of our sins,
and live in faith we can hope that we will reside forever in peace surrounded by those we love.
No matter how bad our lives may look today, because of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we
may hope and be assured that in the end of our lives we will exceed our grandest expectations.