To Each His Own Essay Example For Students

To Each His Own Essay One of my earliest memories is of me, eyes closed, kneeling by my bed, silently telling God everything that I was thankful for. I had seen an actor do it in a movie, and it convinced my easily influenced, very unfledged, young self to try it, hopefully resulting in the start of a long relationship with God. I tried praying a few more times over the years, and, each time, it felt like I had called Heaven, and was sent straight to voicemail. Eight days after my birth, I had my bris, or circumcision ceremony. From that day on, in accordance to my Jewish mother’s will, I practiced Judaism. We will write a custom essay on To Each His Own specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Every Sunday, I went to the only temple in San Antonio, and learned about Jewish beliefs, traditions, values, and practices. When class ended, I would get into the backseat of my recovering Catholic, born again Atheist father’s navy blue Forerunner, to be greeted by the question that has resulted in more bloodshed than any other question that has ever been asked: â€Å"Is there a God? † I went along with learning Hebrew, going to Sunday school, and all other things that were required by the temple, until there was more and more talk about my confirmation ceremony. In Judaism, getting confirmed means that one makes the vow to practice the religion for the remainder of their life. Because I had been a relatively devout follower for all of my pre-pubescent life, getting confirmed was thought of as something that was definite. But, in all fourteen years, I had never found any meaning in the texts, felt any bond with the Jewish community, or developed any sort of connection with God. I asked myself, â€Å"Just because my own flesh and blood, and millions of others, believe something, does that make it undoubtedly true? This question evoked many, many thoughts and started in an inner battle, the participants being two vastly different ways of thought. In the end, I decided that I did not believe in any type of God, spurring my decision to not get confirmed, which directly resulted in the parting of ways between Judaism and I. After hearing my resolution to not practice Judaism anymore, my father was almost indifferent, content with any choice I made on my own. My mother, on the other hand, didn’t take my decision very well. Going to services on Yom Kippur is the norm in Reform Judaism, and, ever since I admitted to my disbelief in God, she practically gave me excuses to not attend them. It seemed like she was in denial of my religious views, never wanting to confront them head on. To this day, we still haven’t had a discussion concerning our differing religious views, but a strong sense of ‘live and let live’ has become apparent in our family life. I was born into a very liberal family, that is accepting of an uncommonly wide range of opinions, so the price that I had to pay, which was a small conflict concerning the differing beliefs in my family, was impermanent, ending almost as soon as it started. The positives all added to my personal growth, helping me become the outspoken, opinionated, and accepting person that I am today. A few months ago, I stumbled upon on a Twain quote that perfectly embodies my thought process. He suggests â€Å"whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. His insight can be applied to any decision, big or small, that has, and will, ever been made. It perfectly explains why I challenged a belief that has been held in my family since before the American Gilded Age, which, coincidentally, was dubbed by Twain himself. My parents instilled in me the value of asking questions where there is doubt, to not accept everything that I am told, and expected, to believe. They raised me to be a free thinker, who follows only when following is pertinent. My grandmother died a few years after I first openly lacked a belief in God, so I was sure that when you die, you die. .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a , .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a .postImageUrl , .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a , .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a:hover , .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a:visited , .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a:active { border:0!important; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a:active , .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ucac0f7c31ed977fdb10ca04554a0063a:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: 10 different versions of the game EssayI was very close to her, and didn’t take the loss very well. When I was at her final resting place, my emotions were so strong, that they overpowered my logic, temporarily convincing me that I believed in God, in hope that she could finally see her husband, my grandpa, after fifteen years of not being by his side. Painting this picture in my head made me wonder if I would ever fall into line, and let ‘the word of God’ burrow itself into my being. As of now, I feel that religion will never find a place in my life, but that doesn’t mean I’m completely opposed to the idea of it.

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buy custom Leadership Skills essay The term leadership can be defined as process of social influence where a person enlists the aid and support of others to accomplish a common task or objective. Leadership can also be defined as the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common objective. Good leadership requires several attributes that are essential for one to become an effective leader such as integrity, honesty, ability to communicate effectively, and courage among others (Owen, 2007). Leadership as an element of social interaction is a complex activity involving the process of influencing both actors that is the leaders and the followers that has a wide range of possible outcomes for example achievements of goals, motivating the commitment of individuals to such goals, while enhancing group cohesion and reinforcing change within the organization to form lasting organizational cultures. Effective leadership is based on ideas which cannot happen unless those ideas are communicated to the followers in way that engages them. Good leaders are made through a series of process that involve application of skills and knowledge of a leader, through extensive research, study and practices .Leadership involves communicating, inspiring and supervising of the followers by the leader. According to Blake Mouton (1999) leadership requires one to have a set of principles for example being technically proficient, understanding oneself and seeking self improvement, ability to make sound and timely decisions, leading by example, understanding your job and having solid familiarity with your employees tasks among others. The success of a leader can be enabled by application of their knowledge and skills however their personal traits and attributes contribute greatly to their success for example positive beliefs, values, ethics and character are important determinants of ones success. For one to be termed as an effective leader some qualities are important to achieve success in these undertakings. The ability to communicat effectively is paramount in the success of a leader. Effective communication helps promote better human relations and interpersonal skills (Owen, 2007). As a leader one should be able to communicate the goals and objectives of the organization to the followers and thus making it possible to work toward a common goal and also win their trust and confidence. A leader should be able to motivate the followers. This can be achieved by exemplary leading, being a good listener to the views of the subjects in the context of an organization, and should be able to note and complement good work by others so as to motivate them to work harder .For example giving promotions to employees who produce impressive results. Churchill of Britain is hailed for his motivation as a leader and statesman due to his ability to inspire and motivate his people in the opening days of the war (Caroselli, 2000). Integrity is an important trait of an effective leader. Integrity gives one a higher moral standing as one is honest and has a sense of strong internal guidelines. A leader who encourages transparency, leads by example is bound to be successful in their role for they are able to win the respect and cooperation of the followers thus able to achieve their objectives. Being a professional in ones undertakings as a leader would also make one an effective leader. This entails being loyal to your followers, performing selfless services, having good character traits, commitment, integrity and courage among others are important traits in ensuring effective leadership. This helps create confidence in the followers and thus are able to follow the lead of the leader (Victor Philip, 2004). The above attributes of effective leadership help leader to attain the trust and confidence of their subjects. They promote employer and employee satisfaction within organizations. It also helps employees understand the overall business strategy, helping them to contribute effectiively to achieve the corporations objectives and thus acquiring overall success. The ability of a leader to communicate effectively, motivate his/her followers, practice integrity, and act professionally in conducting their roles not only gives then a competitive edge in their work but also earns the respect of the followers and thus are able to motivate them to work towards a common goal. Having learnt that leaders are made, one realizes that it is possible to acquire and develop effective leadership skills through learning effective communication skills and practicing to be an effective communicator so as to be able to be an effective leader. Virtues like integrity selflessness, honesty should be natured so as to train one to be an effective leader .The ability of one to lead by example is of paramount importance as one is able to achieve the respect and cooperation of the followers (Victor Philip, 2004). Understanding the whole concept of leadership is also vital in acquiring and developing effective leadership skills. The understanding that leadership is service to humanity which only succeeds through winning the cooperation of the followers and thus should be engaging and governed by mutual respect is vital to becoming an effective leader (Adair, 1998). Important effective leadership principles should be acquired and developed such as having the dream of leaving the world a better place than one found it, desire to achieve excellence, upholding ethics ,being persistent, understanding ones strengths and improving on them, would ensure success in developing leadership skills. In conclusion, leadership is a broad concept that requires any aspiring leader to work on their personal attributes and also improve on their knowledge and skills in order to be successful. (Zaccaro Banks, 2001). However we realize that leadership cannot be effective if it fails to win the respect of the followers thus leader should strive to win this trust of their subjects. Buy custom Leadership Skills essay