The Meaning of life Essay Example for Free

The Meaning of life Essay What is the meaning of life? is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives, most in the context What is the purpose of life? Here are some of the many potential answers to this perplexing question. The responses are shown to overlap in many ways but may be grouped into the following categories: Survival and temporal success to live every day like it is your last and to do your best at everything that comes before you to be always satisfied to live, go to school, work, and die to participate in natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future of intelligent life to compete or co-operate with others to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance to gain and exercise power to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book to eat to prepare for death to spend life in the pursuit of happiness, maybe not to obtain it, but to pursue it relentlessly. to produce offspring through sexual reproduction (alike to participating in evolution) to protect and preserve ones kin, clan, or tribe (akin to participating in evolution) to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially to observe the ultimate fate of humanity to the furthest possible extent to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means to attempt to have many sexual conquests (as in Arthur Schopenhauers will to procreate) to find and take over all free space in this game called life to seek and find beauty to kill or be killed

Big Game and Greasy Lake: two stories depicting a similar theme Essay

T. Coraghessan Boyle’s "Greasy Lake" and "Big Game" are similarly structured but completely different short stories that explain the transitions of people from fake slaves of their image to genuine and realized individuals. If not portrayed in the stories, the development in the characters certainly escapes into the reader’s imagination and almost magically makes them the learned. The plot of the two stories is one of the strongest lines connecting them together by way of foundation, but at the same time it establishes completely different story lines that follow the same beat. Boyle’s evolution from "Greasy Lake" to "Big Game" has also provided for a progression in his style. Evident from the two stories is the contrasted amounts of detail and abstract detail. In some sense, Boyle has mellowed over the two stories by leaving out many of the twists and turns of "Greasy Lake" in "Big Game," but in the same sense has become more exciting with more violence and action. The plots in the two stories are similar in structure and pattern of action. They both include violence and regretful lessons learned the hard way, and seam to involve similar events and characters. A definite change in Boyle’s plot over the course of the two stories however, is the loss in significance and importance of the plot and the take over by setting and character instead. &...

Family Assessment using Calgary Family Assessment Model Essay

The family involved has two children and both parents who have been married for close to fifteen years. The grandparents to the children are alive with the exception of the paternal grandmother who died of a heart condition. The family visits hospital to seek medical attentions for their adolescent son who presents conditions close to what is seen in asthma cases. The child is accompanied by both parents and a closer look shows his fondness for both parents. The interview starts with the nurse inquiring when the symptoms were first experienced by the sick child. The mother seems ready with the answers though as the interview progresses, the father chips in a statement or two, of course the sick child too has his own bit of the story which he does not shy from revealing. After a duration of half an hour, the nurse wraps up the interviews while observing that the family has special concern for their seek child and the problem is shared by both parents. Though they have taken long to disassociate the symptoms with any other condition for example a chronic cough, they readily agree that their family has previously suffered cases of asthma. Interestingly the cases are common in both extended families. The nurse also recognises the willingness of the family as represented in the couple to support their child in the process of medication and healing. The family is also willing to invest time and other resources to ensure that similar health problems do not face the family in future. Family Assessment During subsequent visits, the nurse engages the family in a more vigorous assessment advised and based on the Calgary Family assessment model. For the assessment to take palace as espoused by this model the nurse created a sense of importance to the family attending the session. He built communication link and opened rapport between him and the clients. He encouraged the client to consider themselves as a single unit rather than individuals in the system of family. This was done in education and information sessions which the clients were encouraged to attend either uniquely or a group of clients. The nurse took the earliest moment to explain to the said family about the assessment model he intended to use. When information is given to the client prior to their inquiry on the same, confidence about the system is built and rapid and free information exchange follows. The nurse therefore saw this as opportune. Highlight of the model were given subject to the expressions in Wright, and Leahey, (2002) as categories of family life owing from its structural, developmental and functionality dimensions. Each of these dimensions in respect to this family is discussed below: The structural assessment is meant to identify the composition and connectivity of the family within and without. In other words it explains the internal structure of the family, the external structure and the context which the family finds itself. The family was composed of two married adults in their late thirties and two children all from this marriage. One aged 14 years and the other 8 years, the latter is male and the former female. The father was observed as the head and the bread winner while the mother played a major role of taking care of the children. She also did part time work amounting to twenty hours a week, which means that she was available for the kids most of the time. The sexual orientation among the couple is heterosexual. Any other orientation would be frowned at since the family is catholic. When the father is not at work, he spends his time with the children though the boy has complained to the mother that the dad seems fond of the sister. Except for this, the family can be described as close knit. Externally, the family is related to the grandparents mentioned above. A thanks giving dinner is served at the paternal grandparents home which must be attended by all their children and grandchildren. This home has three siblings. One of them has since moved to Asia for a job with a development agency. He rarely comes to the US and after suffering divorce with his wife, he seems to have cut communications with the family. The old folks are very fond of their grand children. The grand mum even made a point of visiting the sick boy. The family also has family friends most of whom comprise of women who attend the same church. The father does not talk much about friends. He says his nature of work does not allow him much socialisation though he is glad enough to welcome those who appear courtesy of the wife. The children are fond of their classmates. The boy confided to the mother the other night that she was eyeing some girl at school. One of the family’s friends has a daughter with a similar condition which was diagnosed two years ago. The mother has been very helpful in encouraging and sharing her experiences with this family. The context of this family can be summarised as follows: their race is Caucasian, their great grand parents are said to have migrated from England in the early sixteenth century. The father is employed in white collar employment working as an accountant in a securities firm. This leaves his family enjoying a middle class income level. The family lives in a relatively safe neighbourhood free from cases of drug abuse, gangs and other types of lawlessness and children attend public school. As mentioned earlier the family is catholic. At least the mother accompanied by her children go to church every Sunday. Both parents have expressed deep feelings in prayer and hope that God will heal their sick child. During her spare time the mother is occupied in tending a flower garden in the backyard. An inquiry on whether any of the flowers and bushes would be precipitating her child condition leaves her distraught. She does not believe that she would do anything to hurt her children. In so far the developmental dimension is concerned, this family has gone through the typical stages. Sally remembers fondly the first meeting with her in-laws and the kind words she received from Joe’s father. Their wedding was a small church wedding at Sally’s home well attended by their families and friends. During the second year of their marriage, Ralph was born to them. The second child so them wait longer. The gynaecologist they were seeing talked of secondary infertility attributed to Sally but after investigations, Joe sperm count was found low. After treatment and support from Sally, the second child was finally conceived and born through caesarean section. The family is comfortable with these two children. Their aim is to give them the best care and education. There is something else worrying Sally about Ralph other than his ailment. He seems so robust and athletic. In fact he is involved in most athletic competitions in his class and even plays football for the school team. Sally believes that these activities will only worsen his condition. Joe has tried to convince Sally otherwise without success. During our last meeting, which Joe did not attend because of work commitments, Sally explained her dilemma. On my part, I showed her the positive part of her son’s behavior and the fact that exercises would help the healing process. I also explained to her that as an adolescent mother, she ought to provide more space to her children so that they may seek their own identity. Marie is keen to learn music and is taking ballet classes. The children do not come home early any more from school as they used to. May be its time Sally considered a more occupying job as part of her mid life career adjustment. On the other hand, Joe has just been promoted to the position of the chief finance officer. The only time that he seems to have time for the family is only on Sunday. In terms of functional assessment, the family has been rated as highly functional in achieving the routine duties. Children go to school, meals are shared, economics needs are well taken care of, parents report to work on time and they turn up for routine or arranged meeting with friends and medical personnel. Emotional communication is fairly good. The couple look up to each other for emotional support. Joe gave up his drinking so that he could come home early and be with the wife. Sally confided to me that their sex life is fairly active. The children look up to their parents for comfort and support. Sometimes the same comfort can also be sought from grand parent. Verbal communication is quite good. The couple however said it is something they had to work on. They remember during early in their marriage Joe was fond of complaining that Sally was doing all the talking. Frequent phone calls are made to each other during the day. Their children are quite articulate in expressing themselves, a quality they may have taken up from their parents, though uniquely, Marie has been noted to throw tantrums very often until it was discovered that she was having problems with her fourth grade mathematics teacher. Sally is the primary house keeper and it follows that problems of the home appear to her first hand. She has learnt to solve them and consult Joe latter. Sometimes there are differences on how each supposes the problems would be solved. Joe has sometimes complained though tongue in the cheek that Sally may be usurping his powers. Sally is not worried by these remarks. She believes that if every thing else is to run smoothly, then she must try and be in charge which she has fairly succeeded in doing. During one of the visit, Sally remarked that her husbands smoking behavior might have spurred their sons’ illness. I was surprised because their was nothing I had seen in Joe to point to the habit to which she clarified that he had quit smoking after an uncle of his was diagnosed with lung cancer secondary to smoking cigarette. This was when Ralph was three years old. Apparently, no respiratory conditions presented to the boy at that point in time. I also mentioned that Joe should attend a regular check up just to ensure that his health is good. Summary of assessment The assessment discussed above may be summarised as follows: The family operates as close knit system which finds harmony internally and externally even among its extended relatives and friends. This kind of set up is very ideal for promoting its health concerns. The family has adequate resources required to be invested in health management. The only constrained resource might be time since it is spent in acquiring the other resources. In terms of completing its family cycle, progression is seen though the mother of the family need to put more effort to adjusting to the sense that she now is a mother of teenagers and not toddlers. Given that the sick member is a teenager, who spends much time in school, interventions may be directed to the school setting and peers. Expressive functioning is fairly good though there are notable power struggle among the couple and overt attention seeking by the girl. The key weaknesses is that this family has enjoyed fairly good health spell and may not respond as adequately to the required intervention out of taking things for granted. There is also some element of shifting blame for the cause of the diseases afflicting them, therefore, rather than acceptance and problem solving, quality time may be spent in denial and bargaining which do not in anyway ease the disease condition. Facts are also ignored in part in favour of believes and prejudices. Exercises in most cases will aid the healing process rather than deter it. It may seem like common sense until you come face to face with prejudices. Finally, belief in God may help in appositive mind set. All the same the effect of this would have been much better in cases where the adult is suffering because there is greater resolve as opposed to a child or teenager. This summary will form the basis of health promotion strategies adopted in dealing with these case as suggested by Thomlison (2007) and Wright, and Leahey, (2002). Health Promotion Plan The health promotion plan will have the following goals: To incorporate every member of the family within the intervention, To consolidate the health effort into one unit, To meet the health concerns for the family as a unit and not for individual members, and to ensure that the family’s long-term health needs are addressed. According to Thomlison (2007), the health plan should be aimed at promoting, sustaining and improving the dimensions of family life identified above. These goals will be actualised through the following strategies: Organisational commitment This requires that the health institution that fosters the health promotion plan for families provide adequate accompanying resources to aid and facilitate the process. Documentation should be provided, scheduled meeting, locations, and general support from management required. Support should be seen to be given to nurses as well as clients attending the programs. Policies Time should be taken so that sound clear cut policies can be prepared. The promotion plan involves assessment which in itself is passing on information which is highly confidential. Policies should guide the users of this information and protect the giver from misuse and confidentiality breaches. Advocacy Advocacy means going a step further to ensure that the needs of the client and his family are met under the plan. Sometimes clients may need more than medical care, thus food, shelter and so on. Its therefore up to the nurse applying this strategy to ensure that he lobbies for these needs for his respective client. The nurse should also attempt to harness resource available in the family set up where they are currently unavailable in application. Educational resources Information and lack of it about diseases and adjustment to the fact of the disease is one of the greatest impediment. Information should therefore be sourced and disseminated to the families participating in the plan in timely interval. This information will guide decision making and action causing the health plan to succeed. These four strategies are adopted from Nursing Now (1997). Conclusion Of the four strategies highlighted above, the most applicable in building and implementing a health promotion plan for the family discussed above is educational resources since the family needs factual information to reinforce its believes and to spur action. Information will also assure them on how to prevent other health conditions from recurring. Advocacy will also play a part in ensuring that the resources available within the family setting are made available to the health care plan. May be its time Joe committed more resources in making his wife more fruitful career wise other wise the family may end up grappling with more serious and undefined health problems arising from depression. It is expected that the system and establishment will support the plan in terms of policy and infrastructure. Reference Nursing Now (1997). â€Å"Issues and Trend in Canadian Nursing: The Family Connection†. No. 003 September 1997, Canadian Nurses Association. Thomlison, Barbara (2007). Family assessment handbook: An introductory guide to family assessment and intervention (2nd ed. ). Thomson: Belmont, CA. Wright, L. M. , Leahey, M. (2002) Nurses and families: A guide to family assessment and intervention (4th edition). Philadelphia: F. A. Davis.

Moby Dick Essay

In this video, we immediately learn of an obsessed captain who wants revenge. Why does he want revenge and against whom or what? He wants revenge against a white whale for taking his leg. 2.Who is the narrator of Moby Dick and what is the first line of the novel? Ishmael narrates the novel. 3.There are two significant Biblical allusions[->0] mentioned in the film. To whom do these allusions reference? How are the names significant? the name Ahab describes a king who turns vile. This suggesting that the Ahab of this novel will be a similarly conflicted leader. Also Ishmael shows independence and shows that he just wants to take care of himself. 4.The narrator states that Moby Dick symbolizes three different meanings for three different characters. List the characters and the meaning which Moby Dick symbolizes for each of them. Ahab sees Moby Dick as an evil thing. Ishmael sees Moby Dick as just a fish and an evil thing. while Starbuck sees Moby Dick as just a fish 5.Why did Melville choose to write about whaling? Why was the industry significant? He choses to write about whaling because he himself was in the industry. The industry gives light to the world because of the oil from the blubber. 6.What did Melville do when he was 21? He went to sea for whaling for about a year and a half. 7.What established writer did Melville befriend while he was writing Moby Dick? Melville befriended Nathaniel Hawthorne. 8.Comment on the four harpooners of the Pequod; politically, why were they significant? Queequeg’s dad was a king, Tashtego was an Indian, Dagoo was a African American, and Fedallah was a Farsi or Parsee. They were significant because they have already been to sea and they all want to live a life of adventure, not to mention it is bringing many cultures together for a common cause. 9.What happens to the Pequod towards the end of the book? Ahab? Ishmael? The boat was destroyed by Moby Dick, Ahab was killed by Moby Dick, and Ishmael was found by a whale ship after being washed out to sea. 10.What were the final years of Melville like? He became an employee of the customs house. New York Times Why do you think Ahab wanted to kill Moby Dick so bad? Why do you think that the captain hired so many different types of people from different cultures? Why do you think that you survived when Ahab didn’t?  Why was Moby Dick gunning for Ahab?  How was it possible for the ship to be destroyed by a whale? [->0] – http://learn.flvs.net/webdav/educator_eng3_v13/module3/lesmod03/glossary_3.htm?#allusion

ecnviromment essays

ecnviromment essays Handling Customer Complaints and Managing Service Recovery To outline the courses of action open to a dissatisfied customer Explain the factors influencing complaint behaviour Identify the principles of an effective service-recovery system Explain the techniques for identifying the root cause of service failures Customer satisfaction is linked not only to fault free service, but also to what transpires when something does go wrong. First law of quality might be: do it right the first time - but service failure does occur. Customer Response to Service Failure Do nothing, but the service providers reputation is diminished Take action with a third party such as ACCC Defect and do not use the provider again Responsive organisations look at complaints in two ways: As a stream of market research information highlighting where improvements are needed Series of individual customer problems which need to be solved the service providers own employees intermediary organisations acting on behalf of the original supplier managers who normally work backstage but are contacted by a customer seeking higher authority suggestions or complaint cards mailed or placed in a special box Complaining Behaviour in South-East Asia Asian consumers may be less willing to send written complaints than others Asian consumers are less likely to complain about poor service Service failures are more likely to be tolerated Individuals may restrain their own self interest if it would disturb others 57% of respondents had experienced at least one problem with products/services in the past 12 months 73% with a serious problem took some action to have it corrected (this varied between 49% a ...

Star Death Leads to Cosmic Enrichment

Star Death Leads to Cosmic Enrichment Star Death in the Southern Hemisphere Sky Stars, like every other object we can see in the universe. have a definite life cycle. Theyre born in clouds of gas and dust, they live their lives, and eventually, they come to an end. This is true for every star we know about, no matter its size or mass. Some very massive stars die in cataclysmic explosions called supernovae. Thats not the fate of our star, which will have a more gentle ending. Sun-like stars (those that are around the same mass or age as our  Sun) come to the ends of their lives and become  planetary nebulae. These are objects in the sky that once appeared almost planetary looking to astronomers of a century or more ago who had low-power telescopes compared to todays observatories. They have nothing to do with planets and everything to do with the evolution of certain kinds of stars. Astronomers suspect that our own Sun may end its days as a planetary nebula, if conditions permit. If it does, it will lose much of its mass to space and what remains of the Sun will heat the surrounding cloud of gas and dust and make it glow. To anyone looking at it through a telescope from another planet, the dying Sun will resemble a cosmic ghost.   Observing the Owl Nebula The European Southern Observatory caught a view of one such ghostly remnant, nicknamed the Southern Owl Nebula.  The expanding cloud of gas and dust measures about four light-years across and contains materials that once were created  inside the star and its atmosphere. Now, those elements (such as hydrogen, helium, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and  others) are being spread to interstellar space, possibly to enrich a new generation of stars. The Southern Owl (which has the official name of ESO 378-1) is a relatively short-lived phenomenon. It will probably  last only a few tens of thousands of years before the cloud dissipates completely. All that will be left is a fading white dwarf star.   What Makes a Planetary Nebula? For a planetary nebula to form, an aging star must be the right stellar type: it should have a mass less than about eight times that of the Sun. Stars  that are more massive will end their lives in dramatic fashion as supernova explosions. They, too, spread their material out, enriching the space between stars (also known as the interstellar medium).   As the less-massive stars age, they begin to lose their outer layers of gas through the action of stellar winds. The Sun has a stellar wind that we call the solar wind, which is a gentler version of the tempests emitted by old, dying stars. After the outer layers of the dying star have dissipated, the remaining hot stellar core heats up, and begins to radiate ultraviolet light. That UV radiation energizes (ionizes) the surrounding gas and causes it to glow.   The Long, Last Breath of the Sun Once the planetary nebula has faded away, the leftover stellar remnant will burn for another billion years,  consuming all its remaining fuel. It will then become a tiny - but hot and very dense - white dwarf that will slowly  cool over billions of years. The Sun could produce a planetary nebula several billion years in the future and then  spend its twilight years as a white dwarf emitting visible and ulltraviolet light, and even x-ray radiation.   Planetary nebulae play a crucial role in the chemical enrichment and evolution of the universe. Elements  are created inside these stars and returned to enrich the  interstellar medium. They combine to form new stars, build planets, and - if conditions are right - play a role in the formation and evolution of life. We (and the rest of Earths life) all owe our existence to the ancient stars that lived and then transformed to become white dwarfs, or blew up as supernovae that scattered their elements to space. This is why we can think of ourselves as star stuff, or even more poetically- as star dust memories of the ghostly death of a star.

Research theory and skills for sport management Proposal

Theory and skills for sport management - Research Proposal Example The purpose of the program in research theory and skills for sports management is to achieve a professional program. The program will enable sports managers to be leaders in Researching on available theory and expertise in sports administration in all sections of the sports industry. With this regard, the program will aid the managers to serve as directors of athletics for universities, professional sport franchises managers, public and private sports executive directors including fitness and leisure organizations. The research theory and skills of sports management have offered an outstanding training for prospective sports management and the ability to provide the variety. There are experiences required to meet the necessities of the growth of sports administration in all sections of sports industry (Andrews, 2010). The program in Research Theory and Skills for Sports Management has enhanced understanding, sensitivity, including mutual respect among its members. Research theory and skills for sports management is necessary for the future success of the sports industry. The individuals having the responsibility to appoint managers should be advised accordingly to put into consideration the research theories and skills for sports management. The individuals who desire and those who are already in a managerial position in sports are encouraged to reflect on research methods and competencies for sports management in order to enhance greater productivity. It will provide understanding of how prof essional sports management operates. The research methods and skills of sports management have helped to eliminate the limitations of depending on past traditions in sports industry (Cunningham, 2013). The program targets to encourage the development and testing of research theories and skills for sports management stressing the importance of accurate as compared to general theories and skills of management. As a result, the