If They Only Knew...

Jenesis Veras
Prof. Jackson
9/16/14

Prompt: "I make the road, I draw the map. Nothing just happens to me. I'm the one happening." -Denis Johnson

Many individuals who encounter hardships in life try to place the blame on something or someone else rather than themselves. We usually hear them say things like "Why me?", "These things only happen to me" or "The universe does not like me and I simply have bad luck." Is this really true? Are we living in a world that has already been designed for us, telling us what to do, how and when to do it or do we hold the key to our own lives???

Many people feel the need to blame the universe or their surroundings when things are not going the way they hoped. It is a defense mechanism that relieves pressure from their own heavy shoulders. However, the reality of the matter is that we do hold the map to our own lives and we can control what happens to us. If we are determined and motivated hard enough to work from getting to Point A to Point B,  we sure can accomplish what we set our minds to do without allowing any negative thoughts seep them.

Speaking from personal experience, I have seen friends and family who live in the Projects, in the Bronx who decide to quit on school and simply work at any minimum wage job they can find. This is due to the created idea in their head that they can not obtain anything greater for themselves. Their reality is that they honestly believe that their life has already been planned for them the moment they were born or for many immigrants who live under these conditions, the moment they came to "the land of the free." The sad truth is that they are the ones that are not letting their own desired plans and unspoken dreams take control because of the feeling that they can not control what has already been set in stone, but if they only knew where their hard motivation could have taken them...