Life is a Gift Essay

Life is a gift. It is an honor; a spark; an excitement. We all have a world of our own. A wise author, Albert Camus, once stated, â€Å"you will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life† (Albert Camus). Life is about living to your fullest abilities; why waste our time looking for the meaning of each breath we take? Each person is a part of life. Each life has a world of its own. I believe that the meaning of life, defined by Victor E. Frankl, is to find meaning in our own life. Each and every person on this planet has a meaning to his own life, and is a unique and independent individual. And so, the question comes along, â€Å"Who am I? † The answer is I. I am who I am, and not one person can ever change that. My life is exceedingly meaningful, and is made up of a series of rituals, experiences, a plentiful amount of mistakes, and many various emotions. According to the article, The Rite of Passage, a ritual â€Å"help[s] us understand the changes in our lives and give meaning to experiences† we undergo. Rituals express who we are today, as well as the sum total of our actions, feelings, and thoughts that makes each person in this world, a single, individual person. An example of a major ritual and life-changing event in the Odyssey is the trial of the bow. During this scene, a disguised Odysseus surpassed a difficult task, as he without effort strung the challenging bow. Odysseus, after laying the arrow on the arch, shot the mighty bow â€Å"with careful aim, not miss[ing] an axe’s ring from first to last† (Homer 2011). This scene makes a change in not only Odysseus’s life, but also his son, Telemachus, and his wife, Penelope. The trial of the bow is an important Rite of Passage, offering significance to each one of their lives. Just like Odysseus, I have progressed through a numerous amount of rituals, along with experiences, mistakes, truths and actions, all leading up to the fourteen year old girl I am today. Although each person has a different opinion on what surrounds us, I believe the nature of the universe is full of the unknown. The world is a scary place to be in, it encloses us in, with nothing but mystery. It is a frightening thing, to move on with your life not knowing what will happen in the next few moments, but that is what life is all about; the unknown. We surround ourselves with questions that can never be answered; yet we need to learn to live life in the present, not thinking about the future with every step we take. No one in this world is fearless, in fact, according to H. L. Mencken, â€Å"The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear – fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety† (H.L. Mencken). In agreement to Mencken, nothing in this world is safe; we waste seconds; minutes; hours; even days worrying about our fears. Worrying about our fears of the unknown. I believe we can’t relate to this unknown universe, however, we can live with it. Instead of waking up each day wondering what the unknown is, we need to wake up everyday focusing on what we do know, and interpreting that information into what we understand. In order to find the meaning in our lives, we each need control over our lives. I control my life one hundred percent. I make me own decisions, choose my individual actions, and control my responses. We have complete control over our own lives. However, the one think we do not have control over is other people’s actions and decisions. Although we have the power in our individual lives, others may influence our judgments, choices, and conclusions. All of these factors affect whom we are, along with the fact that we can’t control others reactions, which may cause poor influence on us. For example, in the novel, The Odyssey, Odysseus sails a long journey home, facing many distractions, challenges, and adventures. He encounters many different monsters that stop him in his path, including Cyclops, The Sirens, and Poseidon. Although Odysseus can control his actions, and the way he fights, he has a weakness when it comes to his opponents. Just like Odysseus, we can control our actions and responses, but when it comes to having others involves, we have no control over how they can act and make their choices. Living life freely, with no regrets, and accomplishing all of our goals. That is a satisfying life. Taking risks, without worrying, loving ourselves, being happy with our achievements, and experiencing all different emotions is what life is all about. A variety of different feelings occur throughout our lives; we need happiness, excitement, fears, anger, and even tears to lead a fulfilling life. In the independent reading novel, entitled Speak; Melinda Sordino writes about emotions and feelings, â€Å"When people don’t express themselves, they die one piece at a time† (Anderson 58). Melinda believes the reasons people need to express themselves is because everyone needs to experience all kinds of emotions in order to interact and stay alive. In the Odyssey, Both Odysseus and Telemachus are involved by an overwhelming amount of emotions. Without the emphasis of their feelings without the novel, the story would have much less meaning and would not be as dramatic. Emotions add to our everyday conversations and feelings towards each other. We need them to live a satisfying, enjoyable life. I believe, in order to find the meaning of my life, I need to sit back, relax, and let the question answer itself. In order to survive, and live for as long as possible, I have to enjoy my life in the present. Not be thinking about the future, and where life is going to take me; but live life as it is brought to me, rather then bringing myself to my life. By being patient and letting my life come to me as time goes on, I am sure to survive for a longer, happier, and more exciting period of time. Yet, at the conclusion to each person’s life, the certainty of death must strike. Getting ourselves ready for this unpredictable day is very easy, as long as we’ve accomplished everything that we have set out to achieve, death may appear whenever it feels the need to. It is a misfortunate thing, though, as some deaths develop so quickly and suddenly, we do not have time to say our goodbyes. Nor do the victims have time to achieve their goals, and pass on wishes. An example of a sudden death is in the novel entitles Lost for Words, by Alice Kuipers. In the story, Sophie’s older sister died traumatically in a sudden train bombing. Due to the death, it ripped Sophie’s family apart. They stopped talking to each other, and everything became awkward between her and her mother. Because of the unpredictable death at such a young age, her sister was, sorrowfully, not ready for her time to come. She may have not achieved her goals in life, and got to take as many risks as life leads her too, making it an even bigger tragedy for Sophie and her family. There were a number of dreadful deaths in the Odyssey as well. These included Odysseus’ crew, Odysseus’ mother, and many suitors. From reading all of these disastrous scenes and stories about death, I have learned that in order to reconcile myself for the inevitability of death, I need to start living my life with many risks, and no regrets. By living my life without any doubts, and enjoying my life in the present, I can be sure to live a long, satisfying life, ready for the fate of death for whenever it decides to doom on me. I believe the meaning of life, is to find meaning in our own, individual lives. By waiting for life to come to me, and enjoying the present in a way of happiness, enjoyment, and risks, I can be sure to eventually come to a full understanding of why I am here, living today. Each life has a world of its own, and each person his own life. Each person in this world will have a different story to share, and a different meaning and impact on our world today.

History of Islam

Islam is the religion of the Arabic and Iranian world of which Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was the prophet. He lived from 570A.D to 632A.D.The word Islam is derived from ‘silm’ which means peace, obedience and submission. It signifies submission to the will of God. Islam is one of the few great and wide-spread religions of the world. The adherents of Islam are called as Muslims.Islam came later than the other great monotheistic religions, like Judaism and Christianity. It drew its inspiration mainly from Judaism and Nestorianism. Muhammad (P.B.U.H) accepted the inspiration of the Old Testament and claimed to be a successor to Moses, and although he did no recognize Jesus as God, he did recognize Him as a prophet sent by God to guide the humanity on the path of spirituality.The sacred book of Islam is called as Quran. This book is written in Arabic and Muslims memorize the whole or part of it. Like Orthodox Judaism Islam is a literal-minded religion lived in everyday life. No Muslim is in any doubt as to exactly how he should carry on in the events of his day.Muhammad’s (P.BU.H) main achievements were the destruction of idolatry, the welding of warring tribes into one community, the progress of a conquest which led after his death to the great and cultured empire which spread throughout the Middle East into North Africa, north India, and ultimately to Spain. That it did not spread all over Europe was due to the Muslim defeat by Charles Martel at Tours in 732.After the death of Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) the reigns of govt come into the hands of his successors called as ‘Khalifas†. The first four caliphs are declared as the pious caliphs or ‘Khulfa-e-Rashideen’. The first one among them was Abu Bakr Siddique (R.A). He remained khalifa of Muslims from 632A.D to 634A.D. He on his taking the charge of govt in his own hands fought wars of apostasy (the Battle of Yamama 633A.D).These wars were fought against people who declare themselves as prophets and those who refuse to pay ‘Zakat’. The next in line were Umar (Aug 634-Nov 644), Usman (644-656A.D) and Ali(656-661A.D). These four rulers were selected to govern by four different selection processes. They established a system of government which is monarchical and ruled a vast empire according to the rules and regulations set by Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and the holy Quran.During the reign of these four caliphs the Islamic state extended its borders extensively. Slowly this system of Government degenerated into a worldly empire which becomes power-hungry and corrupted. Though, physically the Islamic empire was spreading vast but politically there were many fissures in it. That corrupted it a lot.After the death of Umar, Usman succeed the throne but he was accused of favoritism and nepotism. He was murdered and succeeded by Ali. But the Muslims had been divided by then into groups and factions that were at daggers drawn towards each other beca use of political and ideological differences and a civil war(657-659A.D) started between them that was also declared as the ‘first Fitna’ in Islam.The civil war was fought between Ali on one side and Amir Muawiyah on the other. In reality the jealousy and rivalry between the two tribes, banu Hashim (the tribe to which Hazrat Muhammad P.B.U.H and Ali belongs) and banu Ummayah (the tribe of Usman, Abu Safiyan and Muawiyah), had been going on for the long time even before the birth of Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H).‘The battle of Camel’ between Ali and Muawiyah remained indecisive and Ali was murdered by a Hwariji. After his death Muawiyah succeeded the throne (661-680A.D). Thus lay down the foundation of the hereditary Umayyad caliphate.Amir Muawiyah extends further the boundaries of Muslim state with the help of an able Muslim general Uqba bin Nafi. When he nominated his son Yazid (680-683A.D) as his successor he gave birth to the second Fitna (683-685A.D) in Isl amic empire. Imam Hussain, the grandson of Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) also laid claim on the ruler ship of the Islamic empire. His revolt failed to succeed and the clan of banu Ummayah ruled for another seventy years.During their reign Muslim world extended to North Africa and Central Asia as well as to many other places. There economic position improved greatly. There religion got recognition all over the world as Muslims spread themselves in far and wide of the globe. This new empire was tolerant towards the religious freedom of its non-Muslim subjects though a tax called ‘jizyah’ was imposed on them. With the introduction of non-Arab Muslims into the Islamic empire the tension grew within the state.

Returning to the Trenches 1914 by C.R.W. Nevinson Essay

Returning to the Trenches 1914 by C.R.W. Nevinson - Essay Example While in the process of recovering he made several paintings based on his wartime experience with the army in France. In his own words, he confirms to have seen the Great War as an event that was so tragic. Nevinson still made the argument that the only way to express violence, brutality and the crude form is to use the futuristic technique. This technique is used to express emotions that appear in battle fields in Europe. This is clearly seen through his painting called, Returning to the Trenches, which he painted concerning the Western Front. One of its critics, P.G. Konody on the 14th March 1915 noted that â€Å"returning to the trenches† is rather a different but interesting picture where he found an extreme formula for the rhythm of a marching body, which is of a French infantry man who is armed fully. Shown first during the Galleries exhibition in Leicester the year 1916, Returning to the Trenches was among Nevinson’s paintings of the Great War that are recognized immediately. The futurism language that the artist proclaimed prior to 1914 is clearly carried in the image of the column of marching French soldiers together with the recurring pattern of the soldier’s legs and the exaggeration and animation of their movements by the extended force lines.2 The use of such manner by Nevinson, however, becomes more powerful in the monochrome of etching by combining the experimental techniques used to express movement with a great emotive subject. This kind of combination is able to simultaneously suggest.

The State of Mexico's International Trade Essay

The State of Mexico's International Trade - Essay Example Some of these prominent FTA's are the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with the United States and Canada (1994), Colombia and Venezuela (G-3, 1995), the European Union (2000), Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland (EFTA, 2001) and Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador (North Triangle, 2001). FTA's have helped Mexico increase its international trade with countries around the world. They have also aided in reducing the effects of the untimely and unpredictable economic crisis such as crashing prices of oil, recession in the global economies and so on. Today Mexico stands at the seventh position in the list of leading trading nations in the world owing to its free trade policies. Mexico contributes to 46 percent of the Latin America's exports and 47 percent of its imports. NAFTA proved to be a major step in attracting foreign direct investments in the country. Foreign capital has increased the employment rates and the output in the country. Earlier Mexico relied on oil for its exports while at present times the manufactured goods compose the major section of export. All these steps have lead to the significant overall economic development of all the parts of the country (Derbez ""Beyond NAFTA -- Mexico and the Free Trade Area of the Americas," by Luis Ernesto Derbez, Secretary of the Economy, Mexico -- "The Free Trade Area of the Americas" -- U.S. Department of State, October 2002"). The biggest trading partners of Mexico are USA and Canada. Table 1 (Davy and Meyers, "United States-Canada-Mexico Fact Sheet on Trade and Migration"). Table 1 shows the export and import statistics of different NAFTA partners in 2003. The major trade partners of Mexico are US and Canada. USA holds a major share in Mexican export sector. Mexico sends 88% of its exports to US. Chart 1 demonstrates the trade among the three countries: US, Mexico and Canada. Mexico-US trade accounted for $286 billion in 2004. Canada and US are the most important contributors to the Foreign Direct investment in Mexico. 40% of the total FDI to Mexico comes from USA. In 2004 this amount was around $7.3 billion from USA. Canada comes at fourth place in the major FDI contributors to Mexico listing. Canada accounted for $379.2 million FDI in 2004 (Davy and Meyers, "United States-Canada-Mexico Fact Sheet on Trade and Migration"). On the other hand Mexico serves as third largest source of oil imports to US as shown in Fig.1 ("Mexico Energy Data, Statistics and Analysis - Oil, Gas, Electricity, Coal"). Chart 1 (Davy and Meyers, "United States-Canada-Mexico Fact Sheet on Trade and Migration"). Fig.1 ("Mexico Energy Data, Statistics and Analysis - Oil, Gas, Electricity, Coal"). Mexico has a strong existence in the international agro-food market owing to its different products like agriculture, forestry, livestock, hunting, fishing, foods, beverages and tobacco. Mexico exported worth $11.8 billion in 2005 and imported worth $14.3 billion in the same year. 65% of Mexico's imports come from USA ("RS/USDA Briefing Room - Mexico: Trade"). Chart 2 ("RS/USDA Briefing Room - Mexico: Trade"). Mexico recorded an annual GDP growth rate of 4.8% in 2006. It increased from 0.8% to 2.8% in three years from 2002 from 2005. The total trade of Mexico showed a significant increase to 60.3 per cent of GDP from earlier

Leading Learning Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leading Learning Organization - Essay Example tions constitute the some of the active participants suffering from the leadership weaknesses both locally and globally (Razik, Swanson & Razik, 2010). The flat world presents several opportunities for the leadership to incorporate in establishing an effective program for managing the workers. The learning organizations are not exceptional, as they apply the flat world dynamics accordingly. These continued arguments constitute the contrast and comparison of the local and global challenges that impair the education and education leadership. The comprehensive teacher leadership institutes the process in which the transformation culture for leadership in the learning industry is still key factor. Included in the identification of the iconic images of the past teacher leadership roles is that the learning organization is moving towards understanding the compelling cases of the teacher to leadership skill, and basing on the current developments (Razik, Swanson & Razik, 2010). The continued effort to institute scaring developments in the teacher to patient relation focuses on the following core current conditions that continue to evolve accordingly. Further, the changing world of managing organizations reflects that the course of proposing and establishing top-down change is becoming less profession. The processes of adopting change constitute the leadership, which is less intense ad involved to develop a structure for the relations that teacher may hold. Further, the question of the conditional stereotyping from the old fo lks in the industry continues to institute challenging developments in the management of the learning organizations. The leadership, learning and procedures of implementing and managing change institute the position for establishing a united course for developing the education setting to succeed in the local conceptualization of the learning institutions (Razik, Swanson & Razik, 2010). Notably, the face of the country is changing, and so is the

Implementing Qualitative Approaches to the Dissertation Research Paper

Implementing Qualitative Approaches to the Dissertation - Research Paper Example The problem is aggravated by lack of concern among members of the society and relevant stakeholders. Algebra is an essential part of mathematics. Learning mathematics is considered a basic feature of all education systems around the world (Hyde & Mertz, 2009). The importance associated with the subject can be linked to its ability to develop individuals with strong analytical and problem solving abilities. As a result, it is an important requirement for a workforce that can solve the challenges of the modern economy. In particular, algebra teaches individuals critical thinking. However, it is unfourtunate that the American society does not seem to be worried about the poor performance in intermediate algebra. In addition, an internet search revealed that few people have focused on the poor performance in intermediate algebra. Instead, the existing studies appear to have focused on basic mathematics or other stages of learning algebra. Understanding the causes will enable all the stakeholders to solve the problem in an effort to enhance the quality of the education system. The primary objective of this study is to establish the level of poor performance in algebra in the United States. The research will set the stage for comprehensively understanding the problem by evaluating the underlying causes. The focus on the causes of this worrying trend is influenced by the belief that the formulation of effective intervention measures depends on having a strong garsp of the challenges facing the instruction and learning of intermediate algebra. The secondary objective is formulating appropriate measures to deal with the problem. The last objective is to contribute towards the existing literature on the issue so that policy makers have a large body of work to use in creating policy measures. The qualitative nature of the study will influence the design that will be adopted (Englander, 2012). For instance, the process will rely on

Achievements of Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 Essay

Achievements of Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 - Essay Example There are considerable reforms which have been achieved in law of mortgages after the introduction of the Land and Conveying Law Reform 20091. The land reforms were occasioned by the need to modernize the property law to adhere with the current social, economic and demographic changes. Another objective was to simplify the law and make it more accessible and understood. Much of the property law on conveying had been governed by laws that were enacted in 19th century thus most of the rules and principles were obsolete. The areas which were covered in the consultations include estates in land, mortgages, future interests, contracts for the sale of land and conveyances, settlements and trusts. The Act provided repeal of the enactments which were considered obsolete depending on the modern circumstances and modernization of the land in regard to lis pendens with the amendment of the registration of deeds and Title Acts of both 1964 and 20062. The Act came in to force on 1st December 2009 with the exception of Section 132 which deals with rent reviews which came in force on 28th February 2010. The Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 provides inter alia for the amendments of law dealing with the review of rents and variation of the trusts. The Act makes an inclusive definition of land whereby land is defined as any estate or interest over the land whether corporeal or incorporeal. Land also includes land covered by water, buildings, structures, mines, minerals, and airspace which is above the surface of the land or any structures. The Act also expands the definition of â€Å"incumbrance† to include any charge, lien, mortgage, portion, annuity and trust securing capital sum or annual sum3. The land reforms comprise the fundamental reforms of Irish Land law since 19th century. The Act has simplified the registration of Land and mortgages by providing e-conveyancing. The Act has abolished the vestiges of feudal tenure that may be surviving in the modern era but has retained the estates doctrine with amendments so as to ensure only two legal estates of land can exist in Irish Law. The two estates include the leasehold estate and freehold estate of a fee simple in possession4. The principle that contracts must be evidenced by writing has been rested in modern and simple language and the minimum period for production of a good root of title has been minimized from 40 years to 15 years. The deeds which may be executed by individuals no longer require as seal but must be executed in a valid manner since there must be two witnesses to attest their signatures. The Act has recognized the deeds that may be executed by foreign-registered companies if done according to the foreign law applicable for the particular company. Another major simplification is provision fro the application of the rules of notice of the Act if instruments such as mortgages omit the provisions and rules of serving a notice including the criteria of serving the notice th rough e-commerce or facsimile machine5. The law has brought important changes since it is no longer possible to sever a joint tenancy. Since all the tenants must either consent to the severance or a court procedure must follow where the consent is not possible to obtain. Accordingly, registration of any mortgage against the interest of the joint tenant will not sever the joint tenancy. However, if such mortgage remains unsevered, the judgment mortgage will only extinguish after the death of the judgment debtor. The law has made it possible for freehold covenants created since it came in force to be enforced against successors in title of the original covenantor. The rule of Tulk v Moxhay which allowed negative covenants to bind the successors has been abolished by