by Ryan Richards

Created on: October 22, 2009

Mankind lives in a world where we are given an infinite number of choices everyday. Our reality allows us to choose which cours of action to take on every aspect of life. Therein lies the question. Do we really have power over our choices or is there some external force that guides our existence? I believe we control our destiny. We are given certain circumstances and limitatations, but it's up to us to use them to our advantage.

Some people are born into poverty, others with a silver spoon in their mouth. We live in a world where the poor can get rich and the rich can become poor, and all because of a decision or two. We are given our situation, however bad or good it may seem, we choose our role and how we play it. Ghandi grew up in an impoverished nation torn by war between his people and the controlling British monarchy, but he chose his role as an activist and a peace keeper and managed greater things than thought possible. Martin Luther King did the same thing with Civil Rights movement in America. On the flip side to that, we've had many a person lose everything from a poor decision. If there is such a thing as fate, why is it so cruel to some and giving to others? The world we live in is not fair, but it is what we have made it. Every twist, every turn that our lives take is because we have free thought and chose to make that decision.

As a race, we are always seeking security from the uncertainty in our lives and have developed many sytems with which to alleviate said uncertainty. Through belief in a higher power that guides our lives, not neccessarily a "God" persay, we are only ignoring the fact that we are granted the ability of free thought. What if we didn't have control of our destiny? What if everything was pre-planned? We were given a pre-packaged life with choices that had already been set out and decided for us the moment we came to exist. Some argue that destiny or fate has this set path and that it has a plan for them. I say you make that plan for yourself. With every action, there is a reaction. This, we know to be true. If you don't eat, you get hungry, and if you throw a ball at a window, you owe someone money. It's common sense. Again, to suggest that someone or something has pre-written our lifelines is absurd in the fact that not only are we able to influence our lifeline, so can others.

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