Cooper Feltes

English 9

Mr. Salsich

April 6^th, 2011

TS we all make millions of decisions

CM I tell myself, body reacts

CM We all have the power

CS no one/thing tells what to do

TS influences are put into place by making our own decisions

SD influence of “random situations”

CM sometimes helpless, but letting decisions flow

CM underneath your river, bad ones clog Destiny Bridge

SD other people don’t influence if you don’t let them

CM the “master of our fates” mustn’t be our decision makers

CM powerful minds keep their beliefs on a firm foundation,

 But are open to new ideas

SD making the right decisions

CM humans get better at determining their future with age

CM to figure out what’s best for them now (learning lessons)

TS playing along, going with the flow

SD “playing along” often best to do

CM though your mind screams, go with the flow

CM best way to keep the peace, not making big decisions for

yourself

SD when the time is right your power will kick in

CM TELLING PEOPLE ENOugh is enough
CM make choices for yourself
SD the followers go with the flow
CM take instruction and take it well
CM don't have the voice to say otherwise
CS leaders say whats what

TS millions of decisions
CM flow under bridge
CM influences don't decide who we are
CS finding voice= master of fate

Cooper Feltes

English 9

Mr. Salsich

April 6^th, 2011

Masters of Our Fates:

Who is Really in Control?

         Every day, the human mind makes millions of choices that all shove our bodies down a new avenue of events. These events open up opportunities for new decisions, and even more after that, all of which are made by nothing other than your brain, your mental power to disentangle what’s good for you and what should not be done. This kind of responsibility can be handled only by the human mind. The only "master of my fate" is my own brain.

        The world that we touch, and feel, and enjoy, and experience shoves infinite influences in our path, and the mind, paired with the body, is the only mechanism that can choose whether to absorb these influences, or to let them flow over our heads. Most of these influences are spur of the moment, happening on a whim. The randomness is sometimes unavoidable, but getting into the groove of choosing what's right for you allows for the decision making process to flow like a river under a stone bridge. During times of life, this river is so flooded with decisions to worry about, like school, work, or family, that, without knowledge of it ever being there, it is easy to let a terrible choice slip past . These influences, the water under our bridge, will not flow past you if you don't let them. Now, with experience, our bridge becomes a dam, blocking the bad choices from flowing to the other side, where the good choices go. If the dam is strong, then it will be very easy to keep bad influences at bay. When you give in to the bad influences, and subsequently make bad decisions, you learn from what you should not have done. With age and experience, these lessons build up to create a great decision maker, knowledgeable about right and wrong. The experience with decisions and choices influences others to follow you, for they look up to you. It is not possible, however, to be perfect.

        Going with the flow is the alternative to making decisions for yourself. Playing along is best for some people, people who prefer for others to take charge. Though their minds might scream, they keep it to themselves. For those people, so common is society, it may be the best way to keep the peace. For those who go with the flow, the power within themselves will kick in eventually. It will be a breakthrough moment when they choose to say “enough is enough and I need to be in charge of what I do”. At this point, they can finally have their own voice, not only to stand up for themselves, but to tell others what they really think. The followers are the ones who need that voice. They are the ones who take instruction, mind their own business, and who don't have a big impact on the world. The followers are the people who make few decisions, the people who are delegated, allowing others to tell them what to do, leaving their fate up to someone else, randomly, senselessly(FAST), and foolishly throwing their destiny to the voracious(FAST) crowd of the world. Leaders are these people who have found their voice.

        The millions of choices we make in one day, life changing or unnoticeable, affect the path that our life travels. That flow of decisions under our stone bridge will, once again, overflow with endless choices, some good, some bad. The influences we come across every day affect who we are, but are not the deciding factor of our lives. Only our minds, for those of us who have found our voice, can be the master of our fates.

Self-assessment:
This essay had lots of very complicated sentences, but with the help of my classmates, I was able to make them a bit more clear. I particularly enjoy the extended analogy of the stone bridge and the river, for it fits perfectly into the entire paragraph of the essay. I am afraid however, I may have, and may always have trouble getting my point across. It is hard, with such deep topics, to communicate what I am really thinking

Personal grade: B+