Reference no: EM131337841

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Global issues responses

Question 1: Striving is an action-oriented perspective on human motivation and stresses behavioral movement toward identifiable endpoints which is driven by voluntary activity. According to Emmons (2005), there a two types of striving: personal and spiritual. What do you make of Emmons's definitions? How do you fit into these definitions, or do you? Are your goals based on personal or spiritual striving? Please find two historical examples of spiritual strivings where a marginalized group utilized spiritual striving to overcome and persevere during their darkest times-think globally

Response: I would tend to agree with Emmons's definitions of personal and spiritual strivings. I feel that there are certain personal goals, with no particular spiritual significance, that people of all walks of life may try to attain. These might include things like a college education, marriage, career, financial stability, etc. I think spiritual striving involves goals that relate more to a person's values and beliefs. Maybe they strive to love their neighbors, serve others, donate to and/or volunteer with charities, be honest, live what they consider to be a moral life, etc. I do believe though, that personal and spiritual strivings are often linked. For example, financial stability may allow a person to be more generous with tithes or donations so that goal would have personal and spiritual implications. Or, marriage and family might be an integral part of a person's religious beliefs.

I think my own goals are based both on personal and spiritual striving. My religion, beliefs, and spirituality are very important to me and so inform everything I do. I see my personal and spiritual goals to be intertwined.

The first historical example of spiritual strivings that came to my mind was the Mormon pioneers in the United States during the mid 1800s. Due to religious persecution, they migrated west from Illinois to Utah and endured great personal hardship in the process.

I also immediately thought of the Jews who endured Nazi concentration camps. It is almost impossible to comprehend the horrific circumstances they were placed in. I can only imagine what incredible strength and faith it took to persevere through those times.

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Response 2: Emmons (2005) describes personal strivings as personal goals that we attempt at accomplishing, while also emphasizing that it is not necessarily the destination we reach, but the journey of achieving set goals. A few personal striving I have set for myself are to get a college degree, start a career that I enjoy, and one day get married and start a family. These are all milestones that I hope to meet within my life. Throughout life I have already met many personal strivings that I have set and will continue to reach for even more. Spiritual strivings refer to goals that are oriented toward the sacred. They are those personal goals that are concerned with ultimate purpose, ethics, commitment to a higher power, and a seeking of the divine in daily experience. (Emmons, 2005.) I am always trying to make time to concentrate on spiritual strivings. I find myself committed here but not as much as my personal striving. I place a high importance on God and my religion. I want to life a happy life and be an honest person and all around good person. This involves making ethical decisions and being thoughtful of those around you.

Historically, the Holocaust would be an example of a group that used spiritual belief to overcome the hardships they faced. Although persecuted, killed, and devalued the survivors have talked openly about how their faith and commitment to God helped them during that time. Another group that suffered greatly were the American Indians. They fought for their land and still did not give up. They used faith to keep fighting and never gave up for what they believed in and what was theirs.

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Questions 2:How do this week's topics help you to reflect on your own cultural values? How have your values shaped and how will they continue to shape your life of significance?

Response 1: This week's topics allowed me to ponder my own personal beliefs and motivations for the choices I make each day. I also appreciate the opportunity to learn more about other perspectives. In reading/watching the story of Buddha, I was struck by the example of the glass. The idea of appreciating how it holds water, the sound it makes when it is tapped, the beautiful way it reflects light - knowing all the while that it will someday, somehow become broken. " But when I know that the glass is already broken every minute with it is precious" (Grubin, 2009). This reinforces the concepts of hope, optimism, and faith that I have been taught all my life.

I think the values of hope and faith that I just mentioned have allowed me to find the strength to keep going through the trials and challenges of life. The last several years have been extremely challenging for my family. There have been moments and times where my hope and faith have been shattered and almost destroyed, and I have found myself just going through the motions and trying to survive. When I feel at my lowest I go back to my faith, what I believe, and the spiritual experiences I have had that I cannot forget or deny. This is what motivates me to persevere, find hope and strength, and do my best to live that life of significance.

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The terminologies for this week's topic opened my eyes to the science behind different goal systems that everybody has incorporated into their life without even realizing it. Understanding the difference between personal and spiritual striving was definitely an eye opener when I started evaluating my own goals and aspirations and what is the driving force behind it. From the readings I had a better understanding of how I make personal striving goals and use spiritual striving as a guide to achieve that. My value system is based on my upbringing in a fairly conservative Christian Orthodox family. But I never entertained the idea of one belief system is better than others. Watching the different videos on religion reinstated what my perception about people and their religion has always been, which is that every religion teaches to do good to others and cause no harm. There are different ways to achieve the same goal and that is a key factor in understanding different religions and value systems.

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