Making Your Own Path

What does this phrase mean? We hear it all the time from our parents, our teachers, our mentors. "Make your own path in life, do what's right for you." But what do they mean really? They couldn't possibly mean do whatever it takes to make you happy, regardless of the consequences. That imparts both selfishness and irresponsibility, two traits characterizing the exact antithesis of mentoring and guiding someone. So what do they mean? I don't believe in destiny, so making your own path strikes a ringing chord with me. My life is governed by my actions and the consequences therein. I write my own story, I hold the pen. There is no set path that I have to follow, no ultimate fate. Now, that could just be in part due to the personal belief that if I do in fact possess free will---which I believe I do---then no being, supreme or otherwise, can control my life. There is no such thing as fate when a being possess free will for the basic fact that one can simply say, "no, I reject your path". So making your own path must entitle making your own choices, being in control of your life. Because of this, making your own path is accompanied by a vast amount of personal responsibility. We cannot truly be in control of our own lives, cannot truly carve our own path if we do not take responsibility for our actions and the effects they have on the world around us. With action comes consequence; with choice comes responsibility.
So how do we do what's right for us? I guess that depends on what we believe as well. Although I don't believe in destiny, I do believe in purpose. We are not just a random jumble of cells, a mutation in the genetic helix. We all have a purpose in life. For some, it is to lead. For some, it is create. I believe my purpose is to provide a helping hand to those I encounter on my path. To help them grow as a person, to "be all they can be". But how far does this hand reach? Does it stop when a fork in the road appears? And what do I do at the fork? One path is to do what's right for me, one path is to do what's right for them. But they are not labeled. Are they the same path? How do I know which path is for me? I must make a choice when I am bound so strongly to another. Where do our paths separate, if at all? How do you know when two roads are parallel in their flight for the future? How to proceed forward when there are no regrets for the past, but no certainty for the future? Alas, but how pleasant it seems sometimes to have a choice made for you. Unfortunately, life is not structured that way for we all must choose our own ways.

How do you explain what you should never have been able to feel?

Advanced Creative Writing Post #9: Final Topic; Philosophy of Life

This is my final blog post for my Advanced Creative Writing class. I have done eight posts so far on various topics and only the fairy tale one is unfinished. I will finish that one as soon as I can though.
This post's topic is my Philosophy of Life, particulary my life. I have to answer these questions:

What is the meaning and purpose of my life?

What are my values and principles?

What are my goals in life: personal? Professional? Academic?

What are the areas of my life that are consistent and inconsistent?

What are my responsibilities (if any): to a supreme being? To humankind? To other individuals? To myself?

Life is a strange thing. It has many twists and turns; you never know where you will end up next. Now, I don't believe in fate or destiny, but I also don't believe in coincidences. I know that can sound a little contradictory but just hear me out. I believe that there is a general path for my life to follow that will lead me to be the best person I can possibly be. This path has many branching points that are based on my choices in life. Based on my decisions, things will be brought in or out of my life in the time that will help me to most grow. So what does it mean to be the best person I can be? I believe I am meant to be a helper, a friend. My purpose is to help any and all people that I come into contact with and to make them a better person. It doesn't always work, but I continue to believe this regardless. I am happy to say that most of the people I know would say they are better for meeting me, if only slightly. And it's hard being a "good" person sometimes. It can be hard because one of the hardest balances to achieve is the balance between looking out for what others want/need and looking out for what I want/need. I can't do a very good job of helping others if I can't take care of myself, now can I? So I have to make sure that ultimately my decisions are in my best interests as well. I strive very hard to be an honest man too. Honesty and integrity are two things you cannot be born with and two things that seem to be very hard to come by in today's world. I think that's a crying shame. If everyone was honest and had integrity, we wouldn't have a lot of the problems we have today. Truth promotes growth. I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt too. It can be really hard to maintain that faith in people, especially after they've caused you hurt and heartache, but it's important to believe in them and their inherent goodness. As long as someone believes in them, there is still a chance that they can become that good person they are meant to be. My biggest goal in life is to always improve and always become better, and to leave this world with a positive impact. This consequently leads to my biggest fear of not doing that. But fear can be useful if you don't let it harm or hinder you. You can use it to boost your defiance of it and achieve in spite of it. On a more personal level, I want to find somebody in my life that will return that love to me. Someone that I can turn to at the end of the day and rest my weary head on. I aspire to find that person and live a fulfilled, happy life of really experiencing love and joy.

On a more professional note, I would like to become a teacher. It's been a dream of mine since I was young. I've always been that classmate who helps everyone, who is asked questions by his peers to explain what the teacher couldn't get across. I enjoy helping people out and teaching them new things. I want to continue doing that and become a teacher, hopefully a high-school English teacher, but I'm not going to close my mind to other possibilities. Becoming a teacher will even help me with my goal of being a life-long learner. I plan to go to school until I receive the highest degree I can, but I will always be looking in new directions for something to learn. There is no way that I could learn everything in my lifetime, so I know there will always be something new and intriguing just around the bend.

One of the biggest struggles in leading such a life is recognizing what I can and cannot change, what is and is not under my control. Who I meet is outside of my control. I don't know who I will run into or why they entered my life. How I treat and interact with these people is something I have control over. I can be the best influence on them I can be and hopefully it will inspire them to lead a better life. My general direction in my life is my choice, but the exact twists and bends are outside of my control. This is why I will always try to make the best out of the situation I am given. I cannot control how other people react, only how I react and what actions I take. You can only control the R, as my mother always tells me.

Living up to these expectations of myself can be rather daunting at times, but it's all a part of being a human being. I don't really believe in a supreme power, more of just a guiding force that pushes all to be the best we can for everyone. I believe I am responsible for my impact on humanity, so I need to make it a positive one. I alone control who I will be and so I alone resolve to make my life for the good of all or for simply the good of my own selfish fulfillment of the moment. I think that if everyone lived for everyone, themselves included though, the world we be better and safer. You read in books all the time that involve the future races united as a whole, except humans. We still fight each other and try to conquer one another. But we can resolve that nature and be better if we strive to live for the betterment of all of us. We are responsible for the actions we take in this life, not some unseen power. We have the power of choice. So let's use it for good, let's use it to truly be the best we can be.