Brand Management Mid Term Study Guide Essay

The exam will have a mix of multiple-choice questions and short answers, with a higher total number of points for short answer questions. NOTE: Anything and everything covered in class (through lectures, discussion, articles, activities, etc. ) and/or posted on Blackboard, are potential exam material. The topics listed below can be used as a Study Guide. However, from an exam point of view, that does NOT preclude the other material covered in class. Introduction to Basic Issues: defining a brand; new challenges; the concept of brand equity; steps in the strategic brand management process. Branding Innovations and New Products: Issues in branding innovations; different options in naming a new product/innovation; becoming brand exemplars; first mover issues; reasons for new branding innovations to succeed versus fail; reasons for branding an innovation. Brands, Branding, and Meaning of Brands: Brands and competitive advantage; brand story/meaning; brands and competitive advantages; brands as signals of product quality; designing branding strategy. Brand Positioning: Defining comparative frames of reference; issues related to PoP and PoD; brand positioning; product category membership; challenges in positioning; core brand values; brand mantras. Brand Extensions and Brand Portfolios: When are brand extensions appropriate? When are they successful/unsuccessful? Advantages/disadvantages of brand extensions; key aspects of brand portfolios; criteria for cutting down brands and brand extensions from a portfolio. Managing Brands over Time: Long-term vs. short-term foci and the related strategies; revitalizing a fading brand; improving and reinforcing brand image over time. HBS Cases: You should be familiar with the concepts/principles that we discussed in class in the context of the HBS cases, such as traditional vs. non-traditional branding strategies and breakaway positioning strategy.

How Can I Avoid Literal/Verbal Translation from My Native Language When Writing an English Essay Essay

As a foreign English learner, , I constantly make grammatical and structural errors when writing in English even though I started learning English at a very early age and have a relatively better speaking and listening ability among my peers. In fact, many Asians, Mandarin users like me in particular, encounter such problem a lot when writing in the English language. As a consequence, I want to find out the main reason that causes me to write in English with the inverse (Chinese) structure all the time. In other words, I want to know why I constantly â€Å"think† in my own language and translate it into English instead of directly â€Å"think and write† in English simultaneously. That is, as stated in the title, to avoid literal/verbal translation from my native language when writing in English. In the first part of this essay, discussion will to focus on illustrating the core concepts of how humans form and convert grammatical structures into English. In the second part, a brief research conducted by myself will be used in support of the main question of this essay, which is the methodology to resolve writing difficulties for foreigner English speakers. Last but not least, an overall analysis in regard of the topic can be found in the final paragraph. The objective of this essay is to observe the influence between a Mandarin user’s native language (mother tongue) and the English language in terms of logical thinking process and psycholinguistic perspectives as well as avoiding literal or verbal translation from my the language. This is an interesting however less discussed topic in terms of English learning method. I sincerely hope English learners, particularly foreign learners, can more or less understand the existing problems that can likely bother us, also, â€Å"can generate some interesting data to show the need to explicitly stimulate bicognitive and bicultural development in Chinese EFL learners†(Gonzalez, Virginia, Chen Chia-Yin, and Claudia Sanchez 627-52). The thinking process We can discover a nearly inevitable process, regardless of its use, before writing a formal essay. That is, in fact, the process of sketching a rough idea (abstract) of what specific concepts we are going to talk about or what type of audience we want to persuade. For instance, suppose our topic is â€Å"My Family†. Undoubtedly, the first thing that comes into our mind is a picture consists of mother, father, and children. This is inevitable as we tend to â€Å"picturize† abstract words into actual images that we have already acquired from our experience (database) in the past. Later on, after these approximate frames are set up, a complicated process will start interpreting the picture into the language we are familiar with. To simply put, the input (given topic) needs to be processed in order to obtain (write down) the output. Understanding the process, we can further apply the idea to foreign languages. Take myself as an example. Chinese is my native language whereas English is my second (foreign) language. Based on the thinking process demonstrated earlier, the process for me to convert â€Å"English topic† into â€Å"English sentences† is to first convert â€Å"English topic† to â€Å"Chinese topic†(since there is no such database known as â€Å"English† in the past), and then picturize â€Å"Chinese topic† into â€Å"Chinese sentences†, and finally translate those sentences into English. What a tough work it is! Yes, indeed, as a foreign language learner, especially a beginner, this is actually the fastest way to deliver message. However, after such a long process, we experience another problem—the translation is still in â€Å"Chinese† linguistic structure! For this reason, our brain starts modifying the structure, again, based on our â₠¬Å"database†. (I will further explain the importance of â€Å"database† in a while) The modification process So the modification process starts. Our brain starts searching for the most native way of expressing the idea in English. Yet, if no such word or structure was learned in the past, it is very likely that we would simply output the most similar or the most â€Å"literal† translation of the sentence. In this case, many common grammatical and improper structures can be easily observed, such as saying â€Å"What can I make?† instead of â€Å"What can I do?†(make and do both have the same meaning in Chinese) Of course, people can still understand what the writer tries to indicate, but on the other hand it can sometimes cause great misunderstanding between the author and the audience. Research This survey is conducted on the basis of 57 effective samples, representing participants from more than three different education levels and 3 Mandarin-speaking countries. Questions 1 through 5 are general information used to analyze the background of participants. Questions starting from question 6 are divided into two contrary tracks. Track A is designed to investigate those who had encountered literal/verbal translation difficulties whereas track B is for those who seldom have difficulties writing what they intend to illustrate. In this research, a few phenomena can be discovered. According to the responses of question 6, apparently over 70% of the participants have had a hard time translating what they really wanted to express into English. As for question , 62% think such writing difficulty is mainly due to the lack of vocabulary while in question , interestingly, more and more people tend to utilize resources through internet. From here, we can see the importance of technology in terms of learning and gathering information. On the other hand, however, Track B shows that those who seldom or never have literal/verbal translation problems believe reading is also important and that looking up dictionary helps them avoid literal/verbal translation problems. Some suggestions are listed in question and which include extensive reading and writing, have peer editor to review his/her essay, and even â€Å"fall in love with the language.†

Business Model Innovation

This growth has largely been driven by socio-economic and political imperatives to improve rural livelihood and by technological innovation. Based on a content analysis of 232 scholarly articles, the literature is categorized into four focal lenses: technology, institutional, viability and user-centric. We ? nd that the ? rst two dominate the RE debate. The viability lens has been used less frequently, whilst the user-centric lens began to engage scholars as late as 2007. However, there are business models that avoid this problem: in Bangladesh, the operational risk remained with Grameen Shakti, although ownership was immediately transferred to the customer (Alamgir, 1999). We found no single RE paper that explicitly incorporated these replacement costs and associated risks in their analysis of the purchasing decision. Â  Reliability The reliability of electricity provision is an important parameter in the customer’s decision-to-connect. We understand reliability as a combination of quality, service level and suf? ciency (timely delivery of desired quantity). Peters et al. (2010) con? rm that locally conceived projects could overcome barriers that would otherwise arise, while Hossein Mondal et al. (2010) state that involving local stakeholders will facilitate RET diffusion. Involving the community from the conception stage thus reduces the ‘not invented here syndrome’ and improves acceptance of new technologies. They conclude that technology push projects seldom involve local communities and that this lack of involvement might be one of the crucial reasons for their demise. On an outcome level, Reiche et al. (2000) state that giving local communities ownership will also increase sustainability.

Mythology Greek Hero Theseus Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mythology Greek Hero Theseus - Research Paper Example grandfather, Pittheus , king of Troezen, got to know, with the oracle’s help, that authority in the Athens would belong to the Aegeus? descendants , so he had lubricated Aegeus ( who was deemed a childless) and let him to sleep with his daughter, Aethra, who had an intimacy with Poseidon that or the previous night (Graves). Theseus grew up as a fearless and courageous boy. When he had reached the 16-years age, his mother Aethra brought him to the place, where was the stone, under which his father, Aegeus, leaving his wife many years ago, left his things – a sword and sandals. He did so, because he was afraid taking Aethra with him, forasmuch as at the Athens there had been foreshadowed the mine against him by his nephews pretending on his throne. Aethra unveiled her son the secret of his birth and Theseus, taking his father?s things, started out for the Athens. But before this by cutting the strand of his hair he dedicated himself to the Apollo, making a deal with him ( Price). It is worth to say it wasn’t the easiest way he had chosen, not by the sea, but overland, through the Corinthian Isthmus. On his way Theseus had met and vanquished many brigands, and each of them he lynched how they did to their victims. English proverb quotes: â€Å"A hero is a man who is afraid to run away†, and he never did so. ... Theseus punished Sinus in the same way, and this act had laid the foundation for the Isthmian games. Then he killed the wild boar of Cromyon. Also Theseus met the Periphetes, son of Hephaestus, who was killing wayfarers with his brazen stick, and the brute Cercyon, making people to fight till death. And, of course, there was Procrustes, also called Damastes, who wanted all the travelers to try on his bed: those, who were tall he was putting on the short bed and cutting their legs off and those, who were short , he was putting on the long bed and stretching. Theseus: (after killing Procrustes): â€Å"So you have done to travelers, so shall you endure; you've made your bed, now lie on it†( Graves). Theseus came to the Athens on the eighth day of hetacombeon month as a juvenile hero, victor of the monsters, but till the moment he had been accepted by Aegeus as his son, he had to pass a few tests. According to the one version, Aegeus at first sent him to hunt the Marathon bull, an d when Theseus successfully came back, his father offered him a bowl with the poisoned vine, as he has been told by his wife, the witch Medea. But when Theseus drew out his sward to cut meat, Aegeus realized all. He casted down the bowl and banished Medea away (Price). Theseus saved his father and himself of the Palatines, he had made an ambush and blitzed them entirely. But the most well-known myth is about the Theseus And the Minotaur. The king of Crete, Minos, whose son Androgeus was killed during the Marathon in the Athens, every year demanded Aeugeus to send him seven the most beautiful girls and seven boys for the monster Minotaur, half-man and half-bull, born as a result of forbidden love of charmed by Poseidon Minos? wife and the white sacrificial bull. Theseus

Al Ain Distribution Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Al Ain Distribution Company - Essay Example Al Ain Distribution Company Al Ain is a city found in European Arab Emirates and is the largest of three other cities. It lies in the East of Abu Dhabi bordering Oman. Al Ain city receives rainfall in specific months of the year. The inhabitants of Al Ain experience high temperatures during summer and most of the people prefer living in the desert area. ‘Garden City of the Gulf’ is the nickname given to Al Ain by particular individuals due to the green nature, cleanliness, and well-lined streets, and haven. Late Bars and night clubs in Al Ain offer drinks at a higher cost (Christopher, 2013). Content and Process theories of motivation Motivation is all that individuals are required in order obtain the morale to work hard. Both content and process theories of motivation are of great importance to leaders of specific organizations. Such theories play a role in the behavior of individuals working in different organizations and undertaking different tasks (Cooper et al, 2012 ). Content theories of motivation indicate that the behavior portrayed by individuals at work highly depends on their desires to meet specific needs. Content theories primarily have concerns on the goals and needs of individuals (Andrzej, 2010). There are four content theories namely Hierarchy of needs, ERG (Existence Needs, Relatedness Needs, and Growth Needs) Theory, Two Factor Theory, and Achievement Need Theory. The process theories deal with processes involved in issues of human beings (Seibt, 2003). It involves factors that measure effort of employees, how to improve efforts, and how to transform the behavior of employees. There are three process theories namely Expectancy Theory, Goal Theory, and Adam’s Equity Theory. Expectancy theory asserts that behavior of particular individuals depends on the alertness of the mind. Goal theory indicates that for motivation and performance to be high, managers should set particular objectives (challenging and accepted) and should a vail an outcome of the situation. Equity theory denotes that individuals feel satisfied after observing reasonable rewards in the environment. The management of Al Ain Company uses process theories of motivation in that it asserts on the necessity to set specific goals. This is evident as the management further illustrates the importance of feedback to both the employees and managers (Daft et al, 2010). The most useful theory Determination of the most useful theory is through the behaviors that individuals portray. In organizations, the most appropriate theories to apply are the Process Theories because they focus on how human beings think and behave to get what they want. It is of significance in motivating employees. This is because individuals with set goals put more efforts in their work unlike individuals working under no set objectives. Another reason is that rewards are vital elements in motivation since it is a factor increasing the morale of employees. Motivational techniqu es and rewards used by the company Motivational techniques are tactics used to instill motivation in employees at the workplace (Pride et al, 2012). Some of the techniques praise high performing employees. This is a way to increase employee morale. Motivational rewards are either positive or negative reinforcement. The type of reinforcement determines the ability of employees to perceive tasks that they undertake. The techniques used in the company involve the functional and divisional structures. The

The War Against The White American Man Research Paper

The War Against The White American Man - Research Paper Example Racism against white people is one of the critical areas of concern. The country has undergone tremendous changes for many years and there are prospects of continual growth in the coming years in regards to the strong economic backbone. Therefore, all people need to get it through there minds that there will always be people out there that do not have similar looks as they do, and do not have the same reasoning capacity the way they do, won't die the way they do, do not have dietary perspectives a theirs and would not raise there kids the way they do. This characterizes complexities of life. Everything on this planet has to come to terms with its surrounding. Thus people have to either learn to adapt or face the wrath of being rigid to change. Do know how dull life would be if everyone was the same color? If you are a believer in God or any other form of a supreme creator, then the decision to make everyone to look the same would not have been a problem (Strong, 2008). Existence of d ifferent races is just analogous to the difference in Everything that comprise our environment such as birds, plants, and natural features. Therefore, it is inconceivable for any reasonable being to escalate racism among the white American man since they society holds him as the instigator of racism. Just like it is easier for the minority to receive public recognition, the white American man requires similar recognition in order to curb racism propagated against the group (Wise, 2012). White men have been blamed by many nationalities for every ill thing that has been infused into the society (Flemming, 2003). Worse of it all, is that their own women are league with other races in blaming them. In regards to these racism actions, the white man has become an endangered human species because the world is embracing thugs, drug dealers and their form of life, while those things pioneered by the white boys or males is shunned away due to memories of the slavery (The Telegraph, 2011). As a white American husband to a black woman, I experience prejudice from the male black and other ethnic groups but not from my white counterparts. According to my own understanding, white people do not have any advantage against the Indian, Chinese, colored, or black community because we are human beings subject to feelings, need to belong to a family, love, feeling and much greater need to live life. There are several forms of bigotry in the society that has received much support due to the entertainment aspect associated with it. To begin with, my evaluation of the Japanese donning themselves with bushy wigs or beards, large fake nose embellished with speaking in loud, broken, and poor English is a direct demeaning activity to the white population. The white communities that take note of these practices are left in the dilemma whether to perceive it as offensive or as a form of amusement meant for entertainment purposes (Morgan, 2008). Nevertheless, the white person is not allowed to stereotypically dress like the Japanese people in yellowish skin, â€Å"slanted eyes,† geeky glasses, and buck teeth because the world would immediately recognize that as an unpleasant negative typecast. Similarly, the black community has received much recognition through their comedy routines where they openly say almost every thing they wish about the

A Study of the Predictors of Persistence in Stalking Situations Essay

A Study of the Predictors of Persistence in Stalking Situations - Essay Example The literature review builds up the idea that will lead to searching for the importance of finding which stalkers are more likely to provide important information regarding how clinicians might deal with perpetrators and victims. In other words, the literature review establishes the idea that will link stalking to the creation or formulation of violence in the long run. Aside from the idea of understanding its psychological implications and other relevant-linked ideas, stalking has been viewed a very important concept that calls for more meaningful understanding because of its associated perceived violence. In general, the literature review is therefore establishing the point that will allow the readers to understand the prevailing ideas or research studies that might help them link stalking to the actual creation of violence. In other words, it is much convenient to say that the literature review tries to collect the relevant point of views that might pave the way for showcasing the actual problem statement of the study. The research study’s problem statement is about finding an estimate that will lead to knowing which stalkers are likely to persist longest as this is important to clinicians dealing with both perpetrators and victims. ... Stalking as already stated is associated with violence. This means that understanding things concerning stalking is just a way of being acquainted more to things about its perceived violence. Not everyone who stalks might be harmful or will result to emancipate violence at some point. That is why it is necessary to understand the characteristics of stalkers and their behavior that might be associated with increased persistence. Increased persistence might be viewed to have significant association with violence. For this reason, there is a point of conducting this research study as far as knowing what eventually will lead to violence in the context of stalking is concerned. Violence has been a long-standing problem in the society and a great area of concern within the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system is always trying to improve or find some effective means in order to deal this matter effectively. Stalking together with the characteristics of the stalkers is anothe r important issue for consideration, as far as enhancing the justice system remains as a certain goal that requires more effective scientific approach at some certain point. Qualitative data were generated from the target respondents who were patients with stalking offense. These data were acquired based on the authors’ evaluation and therefore will eventually be categorized under the level of subjective judgment. The data were collected from 180 out of the 200 stalkers in the sample. The referral information and police report as collateral information was gathered from the records of the target respondents. Psychological tests and evaluations were further initiated among the respondents in order to record probable manifestations of mental disorder, and other relevant

Party debate Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Party debate - Assignment Example ed States multiparty system would have been practiced, the government would have failed to make decisions in a timely manner because it would have failed to attain the majority votes required to pass legislation. Another benefit is that such a political system provides clarity to the voters in deciding which party to vote. This is because in two party systems the two opposing parties are either in favor or against a particular agenda and voters finds it easy to vote for the candidates of that party which is supporting their side of the agenda. For example, the two political parties of United States are either in favor of gay marriage or they oppose it. This allows the American citizens with the ease of selecting the candidate of the party that supports their viewpoints (Bibby, 2008). In my opinion it is better to have a two party system and such a system should continue in the United States because it provides the government with the power to make decisions in a timely manner which m ay be delayed in a multiparty system. Due to late decision making, the effectiveness and the value of the decision is lost and citizens of a particular nation end up experiencing

An analysis asking a critical question about the ad Assignment

An analysis asking a critical question about the ad - Assignment Example Coco Cola, stands extremely aloof from the list of healthy drinks, and has been a subject of criticism for all the health and nutritional experts. One might wonder what is it about coke that makes the health experts criticize it so much. The fact is, no health expert or physician have been successful in finding a single trace of goodness in this drink to recommend it to person on a healthy diet. However, Coco Cola enjoys a humongous good will in the global market and it is powerful enough to reach to every nook and corner of the planet with minimum effort. Sadly, the age group which is largely influenced by Coke is undoubtedly the children and the youth of the current age. They are not only a prey to Coke’s ad campaigns but also innocent victims of this malicious life threatening drink. It is sad to know that the globalization has reached such heights that goodness lost its value to the unquenchable thirst of physical pleasure. Reference This is about the World Cup 2010 Coca-C ola Commercial Source - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDwRkiHaOfI

Human Resource Essay Example for Free

Human Resource Essay The paper would revolve around the discussion done over the concern regarding the rising wages of labor along with the decline in the supply of labor from China, which was previously considered to be the hub of labors from where the labor was supplied to other countries at a cheaper cost. Let’s discuss this issue in detail along with the explanation regarding the measures being taken by the organizations to change their human resource strategies. Answer – 1  Competing on the basis of labor costs can generate both positive and as well as negative outcomes for a company, or country. Talking about the brighter side, companies these days strive to achieve the optimum profitability level in order to stay in the competition. Therefore, what they do is to hire employees on part-time basis where employees would be paid on the basis of work they would do along with the working hours. This usually happens when the companies start a new venture such as, product development, its launching, or promotion. It does save huge costs for the company, but the turnover rate rises drastically. Talking about the negative side of the picture, either it is the company or country; it would result in a high turnover rate that often increases the costs such as, training costs. It is because when employees are hired by the companies, they must be trained about the job description that they are held responsible of. Therefore, investments are made by either sending them abroad or arranging workshops or training sessions. Obviously, when employees don’t get enough pay, they would leave their jobs; moreover, the supply of labor within the country would get minimized because workers might leave their country and go abroad to work for MNCs. Answer – 2 There is absolutely no doubt that many organizations consider their workforce as a main asset since the utilization of resources depend on their skills and abilities. Employees often demand the companies to value them, give them some autonomy, and involve them in the key managerial decisions where they can suggest new ideas. Companies, in order to keep their employees satisfied, introduce certain compensation packages and training sessions so that the employees think of themselves as part of the organization and get motivated. When managers invest over the training sessions and involve their subordinates in the key decisions, it becomes necessary for them to retain them at any cost or else they would leave their jobs. This would result in the loss of intellectual capital and loss of investment that was made to groom them by polishing their skills. As compared to the costs that incur for training the employees, the cost of labor force is much more than that. The reason is that when employees are trained and are retained by the company, it benefits the company not only in the short-run, but also in the long-run. Whereas on the flipside, when those skillful employees leave the company the labor costs take a domino effect because the firm would lose those employees, the investment made on them, and would have to recruit others, and then train them again. Consequently, these companies must focus on retention of employees, and that can be done by offering them attractive compensation packages, further training, giving autonomy, and promotion. Answer – 3 Companies these days are really focusing on reshaping their human resource strategies and forming them in such a way that not only keeps the employees contented, but also benefit the overall organization. There are several ways adopted by the firms these days and are explained below. Organizations these days encourage and support the presence of collectivist attitude. Collectivists define themselves by their group membership, give group goals priority over their personal goals, put more emphasis on harmonious relationships and experience more socially based emotions† (Robbins Judge, 2007) Moreover, individual rights is are also emphasized, that is to ensure the freedom of movement, physical security, and freedom of speech. Emphases are laid on the presence of health and safety and ensure the condemnation of actions or choices that are not safe for people, actions that violate law and ethical principles. Equal employment opportunities are ensured where they hire individuals based on their intellect, creativity, enthusiasm and the presence of Emotional Intelligence. In working structure, they value team relationship, team work, and team achievements; moreover, their employees value the importance of effective communication and employee involvement while making certain decisions and delegating the tasks. There ratio of discrimination seems to be getting lessened; everyone is given equal opportunities and there is no glass ceiling for females or people from different backgrounds. When it comes to improving and retaining the skills of employees, many organizations rely on the concept of Employability, i. e. – to continuously improve the employee’s working skills by the time to meet the requirements – (Daft, 1997). Answer – 4 Since the competition for workers in China is heating up where high wages are demanded by them and at the same time, companies seek to cut their redundant costs, especially from payrolls; therefore, employers would definitely shape some of the terms and conditions regarding the working conditions, job type, compensation, working hours, and job security. First of all, since the supply of well-educated and skillful workers is less in China, so firms would have to recruit those who are available even if they are demanding high wages. Of Among these workers, many of them come from abroad to find best possible job opportunity. Another change that can be made is in the working hours, where companies can decide the job type, job status, and working hours of a worker before recruiting him or her. In this case, a contract would be signed between the worker and the company in which all the responsibilities and liabilities of both of them would be outlined, along with the penalties that either party would have to pay in case of violating the contract. A very enticing strategy that can be brought on is to introduce the Performance-based compensation play, where the employees whether they are contractual or regular, would be paid on the basis of their performance and productivity level. Moreover, chances of promotion would only be for those who perform well and benefit the organization. This would result in provoking the motivation among the employees to gain more knowledge and skills, perform better, and abide by the rules and regulations. Not only this, the turnover rate that China is currently facing, would decline to a great extent and would attract the best available talent, which would be beneficial for both the employees and the business.

The Love Jesus Christ Gave To Me

The Love Jesus Christ Gave To Me Without a doubt, with the love and spirit of Jesus Christ directing my life, I have experienced and a deeper relationship with Him and I have grown in my ability to trust Him. The love Jesus Christ gave to me is like the currency of Gods kingdom. And it is because of his selfless love that I think of my faith in Him as the act of holding out my hand in the darkness and allowing Him to hold me as I walk through life. I gave my life to Jesus at an early age of seven years old and rededicated my life in my late teens. And, it has not been an easy road, but every time I felt unworthy of His love, I remembered the way Christ suffered for our sins. There are still days that no matter how hard I work, I feel unappreciated and unproductive. At times, I will hide my tears and use my laughter to hide my pain. But, whenever I close my eyes in a moment of prayer, all I can see are my disappointments, my past sins, my actions and the carelessness of my words. But, above all, I remember His love, a love that has unselfishly nourished my soul, given me the light to dust off, spread my wings and fly, and a love that has made me to cry out for Him without fear, knowing that He will respond, and give me my hearts desires. Indeed, the love of Jesus Christ has changed my life and I believe that in order for anyone to personally experience it like I have one will never truly understand. It is a love, that is so unselfish, pure, and every day as I reflect back on my personal relationship with Jesus, it is like am falling in love with Him more and more each day. Discussion I gave my life to Jesus Christ at an early age of seven and rededicated my life in my late teens. All my life, until I rededicated my life to Jesus, I always thought that I was supposed to live my life doing my own thing just following some rules and acknowledging that there is a God. I never really felt full, to be exact, spiritually content. I always thought something was not right, but I was not sure but today, I view acts of love as two pronged; one is an invitation from Jesus to seek out His love and two, it is an invitation from Jesus to seek Him out. The love Jesus Christ gave to me has made my faith in Him stronger. Numerous times, I reflect on faith. I strongly think that His love is the currency of His Kingdom. Whenever I think of His love as the act of allowing God to hold me as I walk through lifes challenges, I think of darkness. He is the father of lights, for darkness is as light to Him. Allowing Jesus to hold your hand is allowing love and light into your world. My thoughts on how His love feels like morph every time depending on the situation. I constantly think of it as an adventure. It is because of the love that He gave to me that my faith has many manifestations. Whenever I have a moment of reflection or I am with my friends, I have come to the realization that people, step out and walk on thin ice. For some people, it is like stepping out of their comfort zones, and for others, it is inviting the love of Jesus Christ into your life, and for some, it is simply holding out your hand in the darkness fully knowing that He will hold it because His love is immeasurable. And for some, it is touching the hem of His shirt for His goodness to flow into their lives. I think that at times, faith and His love do not make sense. And as I write this paper, I am tempted to think that if I question His love, then I am setting myself for frustration, and even failure. I have experienced conflicts with my faith. I believe this when I act contrary to His word and expect supernatural results. This is certainly when I at times try to author my own faith expecting Him to finish it. How often do we all author things in our lives then invite Jesus to complete them? My personal example is when I rededicated my life to God in my late teens; I got new friends and made myself believe that Jesus had authored it. Jesus was somewhat clear with me that it was not His will for me, but as sometimes we all do, I continued to insist on doing things my way, suffice to say, that my relationship with my new friends miserably flopped, probably because we were not reading from the same page. In my opinion, it is much worse dealing with a broken heart within the context of His love and faith. Here I was, sort of like a baby Christian, dealing with a broken heart, but I certainly learnt my lesson. Jesus loves me so much that He only finishes that which He starts or authors. It is because of His love that He will finish what He has started however we look at it. After rededicating my life to Him, I also noticed because of His love for me, I had been given a deep love for everybody. In simple words, I found it easier to love everyone; this is not an emotional love, or that lovey dovey kind of love, but it is a love that gives me a deep concern for the physical, mental and spiritual well being of other people. And it is because of this love that I am willing to sacrifice my prayers, money, effort, time, and so forth, for the benefit of other people. It is because of the love that Jesus gave me that I have enough love to risk being ostracized and misunderstood when I share the truth of His word. Whats more, since Jesus entered my life, I can no longer pass a beggar on the road. I normally feel compelled to stop and help out in any way I can. I have volunteered at shelters because the people sometimes need someone to talk to. Undoubtedly, my love is not perfect, but because of the love He gave to me, I would give everything that I have to help s omeone in need of help. Well, I am not there yet, but I have observed a dramatic and sudden difference in my behavior and attitude towards other people. In simple words, because of His love, my love for other people continues to grow. Furthermore, the first thing that I noticed following my rededication to Him is that I started to have an inexplicable desire to read His word. Earlier, when I tried to read the Holy Bible, it was a challenging task probably because it did not make much sense to me as it does now. However, from reading the Bible and listening to sermons in my local church, I realized that for the joy and love set before Him, Jesus endured the cross for all of us. We, as children of the most High, are so precious to Him. We are all a blessed product that simply cannot fail, because of His love. He trusted the earth to bring forth plantation and vegetation. He also trusted the waters ability to produce all types of water animals and fish. This is simply too amazing. It is because of His love that I am able to bank on the inherent and potential ability of His plans to manifest that which He speaks over. Words have immense power, they are spirit. He creates by speaking. Say what I want to see and see wha t I say. I am on this spiritual journey and I continue to remain open to learning more. Conclusion In sum, it is very clear that God houses ultimate faith and love. For whatever reason, He needs us to only have a little faith just little enough to be able to seek His love and forgiveness. And once we do, His love will give us all the proof that we will ever need to fully understand the love He gave us. That is what happened to me, and I got the greatest gift and surprise in my life, His love.