| As I look back upon my life of forty years, I
feel that I have been lucky if not blessed by many attributes and fortunate
circumstances. The irony of life is that at the time of these occurrences
- or at least the moments which represent them on the chalkboard of my mind
- I can't help but notice how ignorant I was of their presence. If only
I had been aware of their existence or the power I possessed. How meaningless
this is. How foolish to think that I could change one iota of the situation
I am in now by seizing some point in my past. While it is true that the
path I took became the result of a billion tiny decisions, several thousand
important decisions, and a handful of major life choices; I am here by a
combination of other people's decisions, influences and physical phenomena.
Much of where I am at is at least as much a product of external forces as
internal choices. Where does this point exist? This demarcation between
the amount of influence I exert on my life as opposed to outside influences.
Is it different for different people, or is it a constant? Looking around
me I see many aggressive, successful people that appear to have exerted
an enormous amount of influence in shaping their lives, and I also see people
that seem to be unable to survive without external assistance. Just the
evidence witnessed in my short life would lead me to the conclusion that
different people have differing abilities to shape or change their lives.
For the sake of argument let us assume that various people exert varying
degrees. Is this something that can be learned or taught? What about innate
abilities and latent talents? And lastly, where does circumstance play a
part in this? Per haps circumstance is so great that it negates the other
two. The answer lies in the ability to measure a quantifiable factor. Circumstance
appears to be too complex to utilize. Of course all of this merely leads the great tail-wagging circle to close at "does God exist?" and if God does exist, what level of control can He exert? |
