Michaela's Manifesto

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trail and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and sucess achieved.

- Helen Keller

We are conceived by another person. We are brought into the world by another person. We are taught to speak, and taught to walk by another person. But, can someone else really do the living for us? Or is the control in our own hands? From the time we arrive into the world, to the time we lay down and die, I believe the journey we have, and the life we live is controlled by the destiny in which we chose for ourselves. Many people let religion, or fate guide them to their final purpose, which they believe to be planned. When in reality, I believe our life is like a piece of clay that will forever be without shape until we chose to construct and mould it for ourselves. No one else can mould our clay into the right shape.

Both Chris McCandless and Henry Thoreau stood up for their personal beliefs and passions, and lived their own life by their own rules. I strongly feel that we are in the journey of life alone. We are born alone, and we die alone. No matter how many people surround us, no matter how many people guide us, it always comes down to ourselves and our personal purpose. McCandless once said, Afacing the blind death stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.” This backs up my idea of living a self controlled life. We have the power in our hands, to make a difference in our own world. We must take a self-made thought, and put it into action. Even as a young child, although we are learning from the people around us, it is up to us to absorb the lessons of life being revealed to us each day. He also said that true joy does not come from only human relationships, but it is in all of the things we do and can experience, and discover on our own. It is completely our choice when it comes to what we chose to open our minds to. There are many pathways to choose in life, and that decision should be made in our own heart.

Chris McCandless lived a normal life, with a family, and many friends, yet he choose to abandon it all, and live among nature; as one with the earth. That was his choice only, and although some say it may have been a selfish one, it was a decision he knew he had to make for himself. The things he learned, and the conclusions he came to along his journey, were messages he would missed, if he did not follow his instincts in the beginning. Those messages, and discoveries, are the ones which lead him to be the man he was in the end. He died alone, in a cold, abandoned van, but he died a complete person. A wise man that had seen more, and discovered more than some people do in an entire lifetime. It was all because he took control of his own life. He identified his questions, and let the world send him the answers in return. His destiny was controlled by his choices. He left behind a story, which inspired us all to live alone in our decisions and live fully in the chances we take.

One of my favourite quotes sums up in a single line exactly how I feel towards living a self controlled life. It is a simple and wise way, to conclude my thoughts. 

It's choice, not chance, that determines your destiny
- Jean Nidetch