How to Break Bad Habits and Create Positive Ones Essay

Everyone has one: a bad habit (or habits†¦) we wish we could break. Unfortunately, breaking a bad habit — as anyone who has ever bitten their nails, smoked, or mindlessly snacked in front of the TV knows — is not that simple. Breaking habits is hard, but with a little determination, it is achievable. There is a reason habits are hard to break. The majority of our habits are good for us, allowing our brain to complete certain tasks on autopilot which frees space for decision making, creativity, and quick action. But the brain does not discriminate between good and bad habits; once something becomes a routine, whether it’s helpful or harmful, your brain will perform it automatically, which can make it hard to stop. Step 1: Identify the habit All habits serve a purpose. Brushing your teeth first thing in the morning prevents cavities, stopping at a red light prevents car accidents, and eating cupcakes when you’re feeling low can deliver comfort. To make positive improvements, start by identifying your problem habit and its underlying cause. Step 2: Replace it Once you’ve identified your habit and its trigger, find something positive to take its place. If you eat to wind down after a long day of work, replace food with a walk or yoga. If you bite your nails, try chewing gum. If you smoke to relieve stress, try meditation. Step 3: Keep the commitment Once you’ve decided to break your habit and replace it with something positive, write it down. Keeping a journal of your progress can hold you accountable while serving as a great progress marker. If you’re truly  committed to making your new positive habits stick, complete your new habit daily for 30 days. The more consistent you are, the easier it will be to continue. Step 4: Be prepared for hiccups Through this process, it’s important to remember that habits are habits for a reason — they serve a purpose and our mind is trained to complete them with little to no effort. Be kind to yourself and be patient; all of your attempts to change habits will not be successful immediately. Expect bumps along the way but continue to push through. When in doubt, think positively. If you are at wit’s end and the only thought in your head is â€Å"I can’t do this†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , make it a positive. â€Å"I can’t do this, but it will get easier.†

Pre Marital Counselling Essay

Premarital Counselling is therapy with two people prior to their marriage, to help give them more realistic ideas of what to expect and how to cope with living with another person as a spouse; relating to each other as a committed pair. By taking the time to explore the reasons you came together, your similarities, your differences, your hopes and your dreams, as well as your expectations of one another, it is sometimes possible to avoid the disappointments that many couples face with the passage of time. Pre-marital counseling offers the opportunity to explore your differences in a relatively safe, supportive, constructive environment. And while some couples may choose to postpone their union until key differences can be resolved, most couples find that pre-marital counseling helps to prepare them for the kind of life they would like to build together. Premarital counseling can help ensure that you and your partner have a strong, healthy relationship — giving you a better chance for a stable and satisfying marriage. Premarital counseling can also help you identify weaknesses that could become bigger problems during marriage. Through premarital counseling, couples are encouraged to discuss a wide range of important and intimate topics related to marriage, such as: Finances, Communication Beliefs and values Roles in marriage Affection and sex Children & parenting Family relationships Decision making Dealing with anger Time spent together. The initial period of any relationship is called the honeymoon period; and after that fairytale, marriage can be a rude reality check. In most cases, quarrels over money, family and trust break a couple apart. A pre-marital session helps partners accept each other better and avoid future complications or conflict. † Contrary to popular belief, pre marital counseling isn’t only for couples who are going in for an arranged marriage. It is also very important for couples who have had long courtships or have been living together. In arranged marriages, the people going to spend their life together are perpetual strangers, with no idea of what lies ahead of them. In India specifically, arranged marriages are sealed with just one word of advice for the bride â€Å"you HAVE to adjust, and you HAVE to compromise. Premarital Counselling ensures that the couple do not just â€Å"fulfill† the responsibilities of marriage for their family, but also participate in it wholly as individuals. In india marriages are seen as a ‘union of two families’ and the individuals who are supposed to spend the rest of their life together, they get lost in the entire plan. Pre Marital Counselling ensures that doesn’t happen. People who have had long courtships and have been living together, need it perhaps more than than people who’re going in on for arranged marriages . Why? Because once you’re living in with someone ,you think you know everything that there is to know about that person and marriage cant spring any surprises. But guess what? You WILL be surprised greatly by what surprises pre marital counseling will bring for you. Marriage changes the set of expectations two individuals have from each other. More issues have to be dealt with, like children, financial planning etc. Most couples spend more time planning their weddings than their marriages!. If you think about the amount of financial and emotional investment that goes into preparing for the wedding itself, doesn’t it make sense to invest a little in strengthening the relationship at the onset? Many couples preparing for marriage honestly believe they are strong going into the union – and they probably are in a lot of ways. Being caught up with all the loving feelings and other feel-good stuff going on ahead of nuptials, couples often don’t consider the potential pitfalls. Those â€Å"pitfalls† are often times what leads them into a therapist’s office some time down the line. Here six great reasons to get pre marriage counseling: 1) Strengthen Communication Skills:  Being able to effectively listen, truly hear and validate the other’s position is a skill that isn’t necessarily a â€Å"given† for many people. Couples that really communicate effectively can discuss and resolve issues when they arise more effectively. You can tune up your talking and listening skills. This is one of the most important aspects of emotional safety between couples. 2) Discuss Role Expectations:  It’s incredibly common for married couples to never really have discussed who will be doing what in the marriage. This can apply to job, finances, chores, sexual intimacy and more. Having an open and honest discussion about what each of you expect from the other in a variety of areas leads to fewer surprises and upsets down the line. 3) Learn Conflict Resolution Skills:  Nobody wants to think that they’ll have conflict in their marriage. The reality is that â€Å"conflict† can range from disagreements about who will take out the trash to emotionally charged arguments about serious issues – and this will probably be part of a couple’s story at one time or another. There are ways to effectively de-escalate conflict that are highly effective and can decrease the time spent engaged in the argument. John Gottman’s (www. gottman. com) research has shown that couples who can do this well are less likely to divorce in the end. 4) Explore Spiritual Beliefs:  For some this is not a big issue – but for others a serious one. Differing spiritual beliefs are not a problem as long as it’s been discussed and there is an understanding of how they will function in the marriage with regards to practice, beliefs, children, etc. ) Identify any Problematic Family of Origin Issues:  We learn so much of how to â€Å"be† from our parents, primary caregivers and other early influences. If one of the partners experienced a high conflict or unloving household, it can be helpful to explore that in regards to how it might play out in the marriage. Couples who have an understanding of the existence of any problematic conditioning around how relationships work are usually better at disrupting repetition of these learned behaviors. ) Develop Personal, Couple and Family Goals:  It amazes me how many married couples have never discussed their relationship goals – let alone personal or family. I honestly think it just doesn’t cross their minds! This is a long term investment together – why not put your heads together and look at how you’d like the future to look? Where do you want to be in five years? Approximately when would you like to have children? How many children? There are many areas that can be explored and it can be a fun exercise to do together. Pre marriage counseling doesn’t need to be a long process, especially if you feel you’re starting out with a very solid foundation and only need some clarifications and goal-setting. For some people who are poised to start out the marriage as a â€Å"higher conflict† couple or have deeper issues to contend with, the process could take a bit longer. Regardless, be sure to take the time to invest in your marriage as you might in the event itself. The return on your marriage investment has the potential to be life long What you can expect Premarital counseling typically includes five to seven meetings with a counselor. Often in premarital counseling, each partner is asked to separately answer a written questionnaire, known as a premarital assessment questionnaire. These questionnaires encourage partners to assess their perspectives of one another and their relationship. They can also help identify a couple’s strengths, weaknesses and potential problem areas. The aim is to foster awareness and discussion and encourage couples to address concerns proactively. Your counselor can help you interpret your results together, encourage you and your partner to discuss areas of common unhappiness or disagreement, and set goals to help you overcome challenges. Your counselor might also have you and your partner use a tool called a Couples Resource Map — a picture and scale of your perceived support from individual resources, relationship resources, and cultural and community resources. You and your partner will create separate maps at first. Following a discussion with your counselor about differences between the two maps, you’ll create one map as a couple. The purpose is to help you and your partner remember to use these resources to help manage your problems. In addition, your counselor might ask you and your partner questions to find out your unique visions for your marriage and clarify what you can do to make small, positive changes in your relationship. Keep in mind that you bring your own values, opinions and personal history into a relationship, and they might not always match your partner’s. In addition, many people go into marriage believing it will fulfill their social, financial, sexual and emotional needs — and that’s not always the case. By discussing differences and expectations before marriage, you and your partner can better understand and support each other during marriage. Early intervention is important because the risk of divorce is highest early in marriage. In Pre marital counseling, as couples you become aware of so many issues that you never thought existed earlier between you two. Premarital counseling is a way to pull the darkness out from its hiding places so that you can turn it over in the light and see it for what it actually is. Remember, preparing for marriage involves more than choosing a wedding dress and throwing a party. Take the time to build a solid foundation for your relationship.

Types of Leaders

Knowing your management type can help you change it if necessary, as certain circumstances may call for such a shift. Below we discuss five of the most common types of managers. While most entrepreneurs might relate to one type, the Ideal manager should be able to move from one to another as the situation warrants. Keep reading to learn which style is right for specific situations and when you should set some of your managerial habits aside and adopt a different one. The Dictator 1 OFF business. Rarely will they ask for input from their employees, and they may or ay not make final decisions with their employees in mind.They will usually â€Å"go it alone† when establishing new product lines, creating partnerships or considering new ventures without consulting others in the organization. Dictators largely rely on their own experiences and knowledge to set agendas they feel best answer their business' needs. When being a dictator works: If you are faced with an immediate crisis or other urgent business matter, you will often need to step up and make the decision that is in the best interest of the business without consulting your team first.Sometimes quick action is critical, and asking everyone to weigh in or come up with solutions could waste precious time you Just don't have. When being a dictator may not work: While this management style often leads to efficient business operations because only one person is involved in the decision making, it can also lead to costly oversights and mistakes that wouldn't have occurred had frontline employees been consulted. Managers and executives, no matter how smart or well-reasoned their decisions, are still susceptible to errors in Judgment. The CollaboratorCollaborative managers are conscious of their entire organization and acknowledge the utility of feedback from employees, investors, partners and vendors used to reach business objectives. Collaborators will regularly call meetings to brainstorm ideas. They comp el employees to offer feedback on business proposals and may even go as far as designating a â€Å"devil's advocate† to pinpoint problems with a plan. When being a collaborator works: Involving employees in the decision-making process is almost always a good idea because you benefit from insight gleaned from different perspectives.Collaboration also boosts employee morale, as employees feel valued because their ideas are requested and respected. This also provides employees with a real sense of commitment to projects they are actively involved in. It's also a great strategy when time is abundant, giving you plenty of time to hash out ideas. Just be sure you aren't using collaboration to stall when you are pressed to make an important decision. Indecisive or even weak because they spend so much time talking about ideas and not enough time executing them. Employees can become frustrated if all the concussion leads to nowhere.Also, beware of instances where an employee may not h ave enough knowledge about project details to provide relevant or useful advice. Bad advice can be costlier than no advice at all. The Micromanage Micromanages need to control everything and feel it's necessary to constantly be in the loop, even in seemingly trivial discussions. They check in with employees too frequently and expect constant updates on the status of projects. They operate with the expectation that each employee must complete every assignment exactly as the micromanage would.Employees have little freedom to be creative or to use their own intuition and knowledge to solve problems. When being a micromanage works: When you have Just hired a new employee, or you are trying to turn around the performance of a struggling employee, watching them closely is ideal. You want to ensure that they are on the right track and help them overcome any challenges before they exacerbate. Another time to micromanage is when you must follow specific rules or guidelines for regulatory, le gal or compliance issues.Remember to let employees know that your constant attention is to ensure compliance and does not reflect a lack of trust in them or their abilities. When being a micromanage may not work: As a result of working under constant dictation, employees may feel boxed in and controlled. This can have an extremely detrimental effect on morale, which increases turnover and breeds dissatisfaction. For those employees who have proved their competence and trustworthiness, ease up and give them the space to do their Jobs the way they see fit. The Delegated Delegate's take a hands-off approach and allow their employees to run the business.They divide and make assignments based on whom they think can best handle a given task, and they spend the bulk of their time generating new business and crafting long-term strategy instead of focusing on the minutiae of managing the business, they can focus on generating revenue. Employees may also feel affirmed by the confidence shown in their ability by trusting them with these operations, which increases their commitment to the business. When being a delegated works: If you have enough competent staff, it's almost always a win-win situation to delegate work to employees.Just be sure to secularly consult with employees about their workload and regularly confirm their comfort level before you unload new assignments on them. Also, be sure to step in from time to time to cover the grunt work and to show employees that you are still part of the team. Finally, make certain that employees fully understand how the work you do each day contributes to the bottom line. When being a delegated may not work: Problems occur if there aren't enough employees to cover all the work, and employees become resentful as they struggle while the boss is out entertaining clients with golf, sporting events and inches.It can also be extremely upsetting for hardworking employees to not get any credit for delegated work they completed; as s uch, be sure to always acknowledge all contributors when projects are successfully finished. And even though you may have a pool of employees to delegate to, they may not yet have the skills to handle that type of work. If possible, take time to train your potential delegate on the finer points of the Job to ensure it's done right. The Coach Coaching managers believe in a team-oriented atmosphere, where everyone contributes to the goals of the business.Because of that, coaches are committed to training employees and providing regular and frequent feedback. They praise employees when they deserve it and constructively correct them when they slip up. Much like the collaborator, they believe everyone should provide input and be involved in decisions that affect the team. Employees typically feel a great deal of loyalty to managers who invest so much time and effort in helping them succeed. When being a coach works: Effective coaching of all of your employees helps them grow and advance their careers. However, don't forget to acknowledge your est. employees.Rewarding employees who deserve it sets an example and motivates underperformed. It also drives friendly competition that can raise everyone's performance. When being a coach may not work: Because coaches want everyone to succeed, Top performers could resent that their outstanding efforts aren't setting them apart from the rest of the team, and they might either begin to perform at an average level or take their talents elsewhere, which can bring down productivity. Conversely, lower-performing employees might begin to see their subpart reference as adequate, which stifles productivity even further.If this is the case, make sure to temper your encouragement with pragmatism by specifying where an employee may need to improve. Conclusion Determining your management style is the first step to understanding its impact on your business. Knowing your management approach helps you recognize your organization's strength s as well as highlight its areas for improvement in whatever situation may arise.

Explain why contemporary cities are increasingly keen to develop their Essay

Explain why contemporary cities are increasingly keen to develop their roles as event hosts and evaluate the potential problems associated with this strategic objective - Essay Example For an event to be able to give a city the recognition it requires, it must be a big one that leaves a mark on the history of the world rather than just being a local event (Musgrave, 2009). As s result, many cities seek and strive to win the chance to host such big events. When a city wins the opportunity to host one of such big events, they stand a chance to benefit in the following ways; As Levy (1997) says, hosting a major event makes it possible for the city to increase its recognition in the global community of cities. Such events attract a lot of coverage by the international media not only during the time of the event but also during the preparation for the events. The preparation of the event can take years and during this time, the city gets coverage by international media such as CNN and this increases its visibility in the international arena. This visibility and recognition is important in many ways. For instance, it attracts a range of people from all over the world, both for short term stay and for long term stay. For short term visitors, this has short term economic benefits because these people have to bring in foreign exchange and also promote a number of businesses in the city. For long term visitors who end up going to stay in the city, the city will benefit from diversification of its population. In a global village, the need for a diversified comm unity in a city has advantages that go beyond economic measures and therefore cannot be measured. Sporting events, apart from increasing the profile of a city can also bring in long term economic benefits through increased foreign direct investments. Investors, if they think that the sporting event will be a good way to launch a business, may want to invest in the city (OECD, 2008). These investments may be such as hotels and other investments that the investors from outside the city may feel that the sporting event will crop up investments opportunities for. Apart from foreign

Invasive Exotic Species Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Invasive Exotic Species - Essay Example The scientific study of insects has its beginning as early as the sixteenth century. Entomologists classify insects based on their taxonomy into various groups known as apiology, coleopterology, dipterology, heteropterology, lepidoptrelogy, myrmecology, orthopetrology, trichoptrology (Triplehorn, 2005) Each entomologist spends his life in the study of any one of these groups. Insect identification is very difficult as the attributes distinguishing them are often invisible or unclear. The Exotic Species (Invasive species) Exotic species are defined as those organisms that are not specific or intrinsic to a particular area. (Naylor, 2001) Their origin is a different place than their place of living. Scientific study and results prove that some introduced species are a threat to the ecosystem in which they get transferred. More scientifically, Introduced species are â€Å"species that have become able to survive and reproduce outside the habitats they evolved or spread naturally† (Naylor, 2001). Species are introduced in a habitat usually while they are transported from one region to another. These introductions can be accidental or intentional. Intentional inductions by humans is done thinking that a certain group of species is some how beneficial to human beings. Invasive species are one sub group of introduced species that have an ill effect on their foreign ecosystem. They behave as pests (G. K. Meffe. 1998). These immigrants breed expand and develop at an exponential pace causing great damag e to the eco relations. Its effect is simply defined in three terms namely arrive, survive and thrive. There are many clauses for a species to become invasive. It has to find a suitable vector to transfer it from its habitat to another one. The climatic conditions of the new habitat must match closely with its previous habitat. It should be capable to survive in that habitat and also outperform the existing native species and has to start spreading throughout like a plague. (Townsend CR. 1991) Basically invasive species have a negative impact on the new ecosystem. Some of the characteristics for an invasive species are the mode of reproduction, Asexual as well as sexual reproduction, the ability to withstand a wide range of climatic conditions and the reproductive output. (Townsend CR. 1991) One of these species that is responsible for defoliation of trees is the Gypsy Moth. The Gypsy Moth The scientific name of gypsy moth is Lymantria dispar. It is commonly called as gypsy moth to symbolize its mobility, that is, the pace at which it covers an area and also European moth. It is of the order Lepidoptera, class insecta and phylum Arthropod. This moth has its origin basically from Europe, Asia and North Africa. (ent.msu.edu, 1997) The Gypsy Moth This moth has been introduced in the North America and East Coast in the year 1869. It was an intentional introduction of this moth. A French scientist named Lepold Trovelot who lived in Massachusetts has introduced this moth. He was experimenting different moths and silk worms for having better quality silk production (Forbush, 1896). He with the intension of breeding silk worms with other moths introduced the gypsy moth in North America. His experiment failed. Some of the moths brought by him

Walmart Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Walmart - Term Paper Example Therefore, substitutes of products and services impose constrain the ability of the firm to adjust their prices to achieve their target profit margin. In this case, Wal-Mart has a wide range of products with substitutes, for instance, when a customer wants to buy groceries, they can go to Safeway, Albertsons. However, there are substitutes for electronic products such as Frys, Circuit City. On the other hand, the substitutes for clothing are Target, Costco, JC Penny (Slater & Olson, 2002). Nevertheless, it is evident that numerous competitors are not able to provide their customers with convenient and low prices for services and products. Therefore, the customers have the choice of fetching their products and services from numerous specialty stores, thereby decreasing the chances of finding the low pricing offered by Wal-Mart. In this case, the free market offers buyer a chance to choose among numerous alternatives; thus, the source of substitutes attribute to the same product or service being sourced by two or more distributors (Porter, 1985). Moreover, full substitute of product and services are attributed having different manufactures, but serving the same purpose. For instance, there is a product such as Kellog’s corn flakes offered by Wal-Mart while other competitors may offer a generic brand of corn flakes. On the other hand, there are partial substitutes of products and services, whereby service and products are not directly related but they can serve the same purpose in the market. It is evident that threat of substitute has a typical impact on the industry through price competition. However, there are other concerns in assessing the concern raised by the threat of a substitute to a company like Wal-Mart. In this case, given that Wal-Mart provides customers with cheap products from rivals, this can result to a

HIPAA Violations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

HIPAA Violations - Essay Example Nancy Lee states, â€Å"If Congress did not enact legislation, HIPAA requires the Secretary of HHS to propagate regulations on privacy protections† (Fernald 61). Fernald (2002) argues that the government or law enforcers should not levy medical professionals, who share a patient’s information for protection of their own because they may need to do so in order to promote high quality health care (Fernald 45). Additionally, a medical professional may at time be forced to share a patient’s medical records with the public in order to seek for financial support, in case the patient’s family or friend permits him or her to do so (Fernald 47). Nass and her Co-authors (2009) also support this opinion. They argue that,, in case of emergent diseases or infections, health professionals are faced with the challenge of designing a proper method of controlling the spread of the disease (Ness et. al. 81). One of the most valid means of controlling the spread of a disease’s outbreak is the sharing of patients’ information. Through this, they shall have violated the HIPAA regulations, but the government or law enforcers sho uld not levy penalties on them because such situations are urgent and need quick response. These situations provide valid grounds why the government or law enforcers should not levy medical professionals for protecting their own. Whenever a nurse is creating their facility’s HIPAA forms, they must be cautious in letting the patients know that it is their rights to revoke the permission for the disclosure of confidential medical information only to the people they name. â€Å"Without the information, the HIPAA form is considered invalid, and should the nurses release the information to third parties, such acts shall be considered violation of HIPAA regulations† (Gerard et. al. 187). Sometimes, the release of wrong information of a patient can occur

CASE ASSIGNMENT MODULE 4 Union Organizing Essay

CASE ASSIGNMENT MODULE 4 Union Organizing - Essay Example Current Issue: The case does not provide a clear idea of the current issues within the company. However one of the many possible issues in the company is the fact that the employees have already been faced with a major change in the company without any prior notice or even a chance to discuss the change. The company has had a change in the teams, change job titles, work assignments and the pay structure, and the only thing that was very strongly communicated to the employees was, â€Å"this is how it will be†. This has obviously caused a major uproar among the employees and has also led to a distasteful change for the employees. This can be one of the possible reasons for the employees to take a serious decision and work towards unionization. Plan: The first step that needs to be taken here is to identify the source of the issue. To do so, the first step will be to conduct a meeting with all the managers and team leaders across the organisation. Here the main task that will be given to all the managers will be to bring out the possible reasons that the employees have chosen and are attempting this change (Grossman). This will further be followed by a report stating the worse case scenarios of the implementation of the unions both for the company as well as the employees. Here several different elements like the policy details as well as the company have a number of policies against the unionization. The next step will be to bring in a training professional to assist the managers and every top level management in terms of responding to the employees and the unions (Gerson). Here a detailed understanding of unionisation and the impact it has on the company will be discussed. These supervisors should also be trained properly in responding to questions from employees about unions.  Ã‚  Another crucial aspect of the overall scene is the need for good communication with the employees and also an attempt of the organisation to take up the responsibility to un derstand the needs of the employees (Gerson). Here to do so, the managers can include individual meeting with the employees or team meetings where everyone can voice their concerns. Also, a complaint redressal team needs to be included in the company to help get all the issues and complaints that the employees are facing and to address them well at the earliest. The company also needs to focus on the supervisor training and as explained by Gerson (1998), â€Å"employers who fail to provide supervision with periodic labor law training are asking for trouble. Once a union campaign is under way, it may be too late to provide the necessary training. Often, legal mistakes made at the beginning of a union drive can seriously undermine an employer's ability to counter the union's organizing efforts† (Gerson). It is crucial to look at all possible areas where the possible issue arises from, hence one of the many which can be a cause is the issue of low pay for the employees. Hence he re the focus will be to check and in any case try and make the work place a more flexible and also better, pay structure, benefits, and working conditions for the employees (Grossman). Also, it is important to note that competition information is also an essential aspect of the business and needs to be considered as well (Segal). Also, to help ensure that the company is working in line and effectively,

HUMAN RESOURCES(MANAGEMENT) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

HUMAN RESOURCES(MANAGEMENT) - Essay Example After World War II, it indicates that many governments adopt a more active role in regard to employment relations (Bamber et al. 2004 p 12). Bain and Clegg (1974) as well as Clegg (1976) state that dissimilarity in the dimensions of collective bargaining in various countries is the most important element in the shaping of union behaviour. This might represent a theory of trade union behaviour regarding collective bargaining however Clegg does not consider it a complete theory of trade unionism, because theory does not clarify the political actions of trade union. Even if the theory was comprehensive enough, it would not still not be considered as of theory of industrial relations. The dimensions of collective bargaining for Clegg are mostly affected by the structure as well as attitudes of employers' relations and management. State involvement through legislation might also be a dominant influence if it takes place at an amply early stage during the development of collective bargaining. If it was a comprehensive theory of industrial relations it would take these factors into consideration as well. Hyman (1994) supports Clegg's analysis of union behaviour, mainly due to the fact that the theory fails to describe the changes that take place in the trade union density and strike behaviour in the following years. He emphasizes on impact of factors of political-economic like global competition that is intensified, the capital and employment restructuring, as well as the fall of Keynesianism in a country. He states that, as national institutional arrangements surely assist in shaping the effect of these forces on industrial relations, he supports Shalev (1980) notion that 'the organization of industrial relations ought to still occupy no more than the position of variables that are dominant in theories which are comparative in nature. A strong theory must emphasize on political economy. However we are left with no comprehensive account of national differences. Institutions can be known as symptoms , and not as causes, with differentiation in institutions among countries being mainly manifestation of the power distribution as well as the results of conflicts among different parties when these institutions start functioning (Shalev 1998 p.248).Institutions also replicate party's collective strategic choices, as well as the choice of unions along with labour movements to follow a path which is political in nature. According to Poole (1984; 1986; 1993) the differences that are found in industrial relations institutions as well as practice in diverse countries have a strong foundation in the strategic choices of different parties to that of the employment relationship (Kochan, Katz and McKersie, 1984 p16). These parties are basically social 'actors' who form the arrangements of the institutions in which they function. The

The woman in white Essay Example for Free

The woman in white Essay Identity can be defined as the condition or character a person or thing. Behaviour can be manipulated to mask identity so that people appear to have characteristics and conditions which in reality they do not possess. In this essay, I will present a comparative analysis of two extracts in which the characters have modified their behaviour so that they portray a false identity of themselves. The two characters that I will compare are Sir Percival Glyde from The Woman in White, and Murial from The Lady in the Lake. The selected extract from The Woman in White is the scenario in which Sir PercivalGlyde is attempting to convince Marian and Mr Gilmore of his innocence. In this scene, Laura has received Anne Catherick’s letter warning her against marrying Sir Percival. Collins portrays Sir Percival as a well-mannered Baronet who wants to avoid misfortune and embarrassment on others; ‘may I beg that you will write at once†¦ ’. Sir Percival’s use of the auxiliary verb ‘may’ here makes him appear to be considerate and submissive. The verb choice of ‘beg’ makes him seem as though he is at the mercy of Marian. He depicts a gentlemanly manner, which to some extent successfully cloaks his true motives and identity. In this extract of The Woman In White, Mr Gilmore – the family esquire – is narrating.Thus providing an objective outlook of the events taking place. Mr Gilmore is emotionally and personally involved in the situation as he cares for Miss Fairlie as he has known her from childhood. Even so he the attempts to keep his professional opinion objective and irrelevates his own emotional opinion, observes and deduces a judgement from the facts presented in front of him as he narrates ‘my function was of the purely judicial kind. I was to weigh the explanation we had just heard†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ to which he comes to a fair and unbiased verdict ‘that his explanation was, to my mind, unquestionably a satisfactory one.’ However we still question the reliability of Sir Percival’s explanation due to the fact that even though Mr Gilmore has told us that objectively he has concluded that Sir Percival’s explanation is ‘unquestionably’ satisfactory he contradicts himself by stating that he could also ‘set up a case against Sir Percival Glyde’. This instantly sparks hesitation in the reader to trust Sir Percival Glyde even though accordingly we have no reason to. The reader chooses to take in to account Mr Gilmore’s biased view rather than his professional conclusion which in consequence results in suspicion – that Sir Percival’s personality, his perceived identity is, to some degree falsified. However even though we questions Sir Percival’s identity and his involvement with Anne Catherick, we nor Mr Gilmore or Marian question his motives on marrying Laura. In the second extract The lady in the lake is where we are introduced to Mrs. Fallbrook. In this extract, Marlow visits ChrisLavery’s house to investigate the circumstances surrounding Lavery’s previous encounter with Krystal this is not how you spell her name? Kingsley. Here he meetsMurial for the first time as Mrs Fallbrook, and when her identity is questions she instantly replies Why, certainly. I’m Mrs Fallbrook. Who did you think I was?’. The declarative statement followed by the interrogative challenges the detective to question her identity. Her use of the word ‘why’ before she has even introduced herself shows unnecessary protestation as though she feels she is being accused of being someone else, which in reality she is. ‘Why’ here also hints at confusion and misunderstanding while the adverb ‘certainly’ shows her certainty and confidence. Chandler confuses the reader at once with the personality of Mrs. Fallbrook. ‘Who do you think I was?’. The interrogative is used in a demanding manner, as though she is leaving Furthermore, the demanding tone of the interrogative leaves the reader leaves the reader questioning why she felt the need to ask it, and whether she is assuming someone else’s identity. leaves no room for doubt or opposition, and this in turn leaves us wondering who she really is. It also implies that she is eager to know who he thought she was and why. A question she would have otherwise not asked if she was not assuming someone else’s identity. The narrative perspective of the novel aids in masking Muriel’s true identity in this extract. Chandler has opted to use the first person narrative, which limits the point of view to that of the detective Marlow such as when he interrogates Mrs Fallbrook ‘But you didn’t shoot him, did you – on account of he owed you three months’ rent?’. He is completely oblivious to the fact that Mrs Fallbrook is not whom she claims to be and the persona of Mrs Fallbrook is a disguise to hide behind while concealing her own identity. This adds to the mystery of the novel as the reader is also as naà ¯ve tothe true identity of the woman in the apartment as Detective Marlow, leading to usquestioning her identity although we do question her motives for being in Lavery’shome where it should have been in reverse. The language used in the two texts differ, which reflect the time period that the extracts are written in and whom they were intened for. On one hand you have The Woman In White. In this the language is sophisticated. Many intended statements are enquiries. For example ‘can there be better testimony in his favour†¦ than that of the woman’s mother?’ Implying that such a high ranking man such as Sir Percival was being dishonest was at the time being rude was inconceivable and to avoid this statements are asked as questions to hide that fact that it is exactly what the person is thinking, whereas questioning suggests innocent naivety, as people of such rank were always polite and would not speak out of term. Also it is more descriptive. This is because in the Victorian era, reading was one of the few ways people could spend their leisure time, especially the rich as they did not have the same technologicaladvancments as in The lady In The Lake. The Woman In White was written in 1859, this was before technology had advanced and apart from playing games such as chess and draughts the older and more sophisticated generation has nothing else to do but read. It also suited the upper class rich to be the ideal audience for The Woman In White as they were amongst the few people in society who were educated and could read. So the language used is tailored around the intended audience and has Collin considered the length and amount of description in the novel. On the other hand we the lady in the lake where almost none of the characters speak in a well-mannered tone. Marlow for instance is very blunt and to the point majority of the time and shows no interest in showing respect for anyone as it is not relevant to his job, and is sadistically sarcastic. For example when talking to Mrs Fallbrook he does not pretend nor hide the fact that he thinks she’s lying ‘let’s not kid around anymore†¦ not that I don’t love it†¦ you didn’t shoot him, did you†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ here the interrogative ‘you didn’t shoot him, did you†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ is implied more as a declarative that he is awaiting confirmation for and so is instantly accusing her of murder. Also he seems to be patronising her ‘let’s not kid around anymore†¦ not that I don’t love it†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ which can be considered as rude. The Lady In The Lake is considerably more fast paced and seems to lack the large quantities of description in comparison to The Woman In White. Where The Woman In White has many paragraphs dedicated to description, where The Lady In The Lake make up for in dialogue, to a point where the ever little e description of the setting is given it is given thought dialogue, for example were Mrs Fallbrook describes the rung and the grey chenille carpeting on the stairs. Because of the lack of description and the much use of dialogue the story is much faster paced. Chandler is very concise and has to be as much as possible as the novel, written in 1943 it has to compete with other means of leisure such a movies which as a much more popular choice amongst the general public to whom the novel is also targeted at. In conclusion in both extracts perceiving someone is who they claim to be is mistake for which they pay dearly later on in the novels. In the woman in white true identityassumed because of honour and rank and in the lady in the lake it is because of naivety to the full situation not having reasons to suspect otherwise. View as multi-pages

Impact Of Dei Verbum In Roman Catholic Church Religion Essay

Impact Of Dei Verbum In Roman Catholic Church Religion Essay Throughout the history of Christianity, the church has convened a number of councils in order to clarify teachings, address problems, or enact reforms. In many instances, these councils have resulted in momentous turning point in the course of Christian church history. These councils also attempt to respond to the urgent needs of the emerging generation during this modern era. The general councils began in Nicaea in 325, convened at intervals throughout the first millennium and the medieval period, struggled with the age of reformations to the modern world, with a total of 21 councils convened in the span of more than 1600 years. Unlike other councils before the modern era, the opening of Vatican councils seemed to create new perspectives for the Roman Catholics especially in more specific areas on their beliefs and practices. Vatican II was reopened in 1962 by John XXIII which it stunned many by his actions. Shortly after ordination as the pope in 1949, John XXIII believed the church ought to look at the state of the world in order to meet the impending needs of the people. With that, preparation lasted for almost four years and the entire council stretched across four autumns until the 16 documents were completed. In the process, there are two majors camp of people, one who were called the conservatives disputing the fact that the church needed no change at all and the convening of Vatican II was not necessary. The church is self-sufficient and to avoid that happened during the Enlightenment period, the ideal way is to insulate itself behind a powerful structure that would claim to have all the answers. While others were keen to see a new millennium coming forth through Vatican II and Christians from other denominations such as the Lutherans, Episcopalians, Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Quake rs were cordially invited. This was a revolutionary move by the Pope John XXII. Although, John XXII did not manage to see through the council, his post-decessor Pope Paul VI continued this council and brought it to completion.  [2]   Among all the various key documents of Vatican II, Dei Verbum (DV) (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation) could be considered one of most well received and a foundational component on Catholics thinking on revelation, exegesis and the use of the bible in the Roman Catholic Church. Hence, to what extent does the DV theological idea applied in the 21st century context? Therefore, it would be attempted to present the impact of DV in the current and local context.  [3]   Looking at the rear mirror of church history, there were tremendous issues surrounding the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) especially during the medieval period. Probably the first threat to the divine revelation came from Marcions denial of the Scripture and the nature of God appeared in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Shortly after this, the Gnostics came into the scene whereby they typically claimed to have secret revelations from Jesus, incorporated new systems of beliefs which are inconsistent with the Church. Consequently, the Catholics became more restrictive in the availability of the scripture to the people. RCC believed that God revealed Himself to the people through Jesus Christ. On the other hand, RCC viewed these divine revelations as being originally transmitted primarily by oral means (Sacred Tradition) and later by written means (Sacred Scripture). These Scared Tradition Scared Scripture were additional to the bible. With this emphasis, the bible is not con sidered to be the exhaustive, comprehensive teaching of the Christian Faith. Rather, Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture together are considered the integral source of divine revelation, as explained in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church: Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out of the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing and move towards the same goal. Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own always, to the close of the age.  [4]   With this notion, RCC tend to weigh more heavily on the catechisms as compared to the bible. For this reason, translation and transmission of the bible was not placed on emphasis. Besides this reason, extensive manpower and efforts required to recopy the text. RCC was fearful that the bible could be stolen and abused by individuals. Hence, the reproduction of this decreased during the middle ages and people generally do not have access to the bible.  [5]  The bible basically played a subordinate role in the lives of the believers. Ecclesiastical authorities restricted people to access scriptures and normally reserved for certain level of bishops.  [6]   With the introduction in DV through Vatican II, Scared Tradition was stated as not being static and unchanging but constantly developing through the guidance of the Holy Spirit to a fuller and deeper understanding of the truth. This ongoing of development does not mean the truth but rather the grasping of the truth by the believers.  [7]  Thus, DV call the RCC to return to the main source which is the bible. Like most of the sixteen documents, Dei Verbum was carefully, even passionately considered, but in many ways the subject of Revelation was exceptional, being fundamental to Vatican II in several respects.  [8]  Joseph Ratzinger mentioned that it is important to note that only Scripture is defined in terms of what it is: it is stated that Scripture it the word of God consigned to writing. Tradition, however, is described only functionally, in terms of what it does: it hands on the word of God, but it is not the word of God  [9]   As such a new movement brought forth many renewed faith within the Catholics and their access to proper understanding of the Scriptures.  [10]  The Council then laid down new direction which promoted the reading and studying of biblical texts in a new way. The manner through which Catholics gained new access to the Scriptures was at least the five following ways. Firstly, the Catholics are able to hear the preaching of the word in the communitys vernacular. Before Vatican II, the priest celebrated Mass in Latin with his back facing the people, making the action of the Mass seem far away. It was easy for the faithful to fall into the role of spectators. Now the assembly is more actively engaged, helping us to experience all of us celebrating the Eucharist with the priest. Vatican II liturgy mentioned that the members should be full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations (#14).  [11]  This phenomenon occurred during the 4th century when St Jerome was com missioned by Pope Damasus I to translate to the Latin language and by 13th century, it became the commonly used translation in the Roman Empire.  [12]  With that, most of the masses were conducted in Latin where the indigenous languages were ignored in this situation. Consequently, the nominal people would have minimum understanding of the passage. By and large, the language Latin was not well received in most part of the community and shortly after, the language seemed to be lost. Also, since this is not their native language, the believers would find it difficult to understand and make sense of it. With DVs proposal of using indigenous languages, the believers were able to understand the message preached. According to the Catholic leader, he mentioned similar phenomenon in the RCC in Singapore and how this new dimension added life within the Church and more people are eager to hear the message.  [13]  It appeared that in the past, most people attended the mass because of a form of obligation and doze off during the proceeding. The many reasons given were that they do not understand the meaning of the message. With this new initiative, the preaching became more relevant at least the native language to the local context. Secondly, there was a change in the form of sermons from just a regurgitation of the bible to homiletical preaching: From a liturgical format to a homiletically manner. DV recognized that biblical exegetical plays an essential and positive role in the understanding of the bible. Moreover, it would add substance to the delivery of the message and allow the revelation to fill human hearts more and more  [14]  The efficacy of the word of God depends on the careful preparation and delivery of the message on the pulpit; this requires good training. Efforts were placed in making the sermon digestible and applicable. Therefore, the use of preaching has been increasing to bring a biblical message into the hearts of believers, but sadly, it is not yet universal. In the local context, there seemed to be more of such homiletical preaching occurring among the RCC.  [15]   Next is the liberty for personal bible study by the individual Catholic. This is something uncommon before the Vatican II as the bible is known as the authoritative and scared text, where only the bishops, the academics or scholars were able to read and make interpretations of it. The effects of releasing the Holy Scripture to all were seen from the Protestants movement whereby numerous interpretations arise within the short span of time.  [16]  Besides, it might appear that the bible is not scared enough that only the bishop has the access to it. Thus, the availability of the bible to Catholics became restricted due to the theological, social and also various heretical religious movements. Looking in retrospection, Vatican II created some impact in this area whereby Catholics are able to access to the bible in their native language allowing the Logos and Rehma word of God to be spoken during their devotional time. From a unidirectional reception to a bidirectional, believers are able to directly communion with God through the bible. The Church today encourages its members to make use of new methods of Scripture study and to cherish the Scriptures. Catholics are growing in their understanding of the Bible through the benefits of historical research, literary analysis and archaeological findings. Church documents wisely steer Catholics away from literal-minded approaches and from reading the Bible as if it were a science or history textbook. Since Vatican II, there is fairly widespread of the RCC participation in bible study groups, often advance by Ecclesial movements such as the Neo-catechumenate and the monastic tradition of  Lectio divina. It is sometimes ecumenical in nature whereby the study with Protestants or the Jews and they almost always find both enlightening and enriching. This action was illustrated in the DV 6 (no. 22) if these translations are produced in cooperation with the separated brethren as well, all Christians will be able to use them  [17]  that encouraged the RCC to make peace with the Protestant Bible Societies and work with them. Although there have been a longstanding hostility, full collaboration between the Catholic Biblical Federation and the United Bible Societies was soon established, bringing a notable increase in production of vernacular versions all over the world.  [18]   Similar collaboration has developed with publishers of daily bible reading aids such as the Bible Reading Fellowship, though in this country, at least, nothing seems to check a lamentable decline in general knowledge of the Bible.  [19]   As such, bible study became a central activity of the reformer groups which sprang up especially among the poor. More often than not, it was their daily reading of the bible that brought light into their own situation which was the main cradle of liberation theology.  [20]  In the local context, similar trends were observed in Singapore as well where such practices mushroomed. Many RCCs instituted bible study within the congregations on a regular basis where the believers examine the scripture. Such phenomenon was not evident before Vatican II. With this, Catholics became more familiar with the bible and equipped to defend their faith.  [21]   Finally, the last trajectory, posed a more complex issue to be addressed. It is the formal and scholarly pursuit of biblical study in the academy. Although the goal of academic study is to enable the deepening understanding of the Scripture, the methodologies employed might be deliberately bracketed faith. Since, most Catholic biblical scholar adopted certain methodologies from the Protestants colleagues, they might realized some incompatibility of the certain traditions practiced in the Catholic Church to deviate from the original intention of the Scripture. However, such rigorous academic study facilitated the understanding of the bible from a more holistic manner (theological, cultural, social and context). Consequently, some Catholics started to realize that certain doctrines seemed to be inconsistent with the Holy Scripture and some abandoned certain practices in the Catholic faith. Conversely, some others turned away from the Catholic faith and embraced the Protestant beliefs.à ‚  [22]  Also, many lay leaders are able to learn the bible from a theological angle, able to defend their faith. In Singapore, there are many such theological training evolving within the different Roman Catholic Churches and programme were developed to educate and trained lay ministers.  [23]  Growing numbers of lay women and men are attending theology schools, leading and/or joining Bible study groups and reading an array of solid articles or books on the subject. Priests and religious are no longer the only Scripture experts. Therefore, it is evident in RCC that such changes are happening now and hopefully will be ongoing. Since Vatican II, many speculations about the impact were raised, and it seemed there is an effect of change in the RCC circle as being more biblical, and personal faith; returning back to the original intent of God. Although, many of us were too young to think of Vatican II except as history, this phenomenon caused an effect in the universal church especially in the Catholic circle. According to the RCC in Singapore, many of the believers started getting more involved and serious in studying the bible. In this sense, it also means that wave from Vatican II remain active in both the academic and among the people of the RCC. Although some changes were seen in the RCC, it is heartbreaking to see the overwhelming cases of sex abuse scandals within the RCC, which caused a stir among congregations. Questions were raised regarding the credibility of these priests and the role of the scripture in their lives and casted doubts on the transformation in the RCC due to Vatican II. In conclusion , with the inception of Vatican II, there has been a vast enrichment of the lectionary for Mass and the readings for daily prayer of the Church and made a tremendous impact in the RCC. Hopefully this will continue to fulfill its original intention by Pope Paul XXIII when he convened the pastoral council.