Thought for the Day...

I’m beginning to realize that everyone has a story. Complete with chapters, climatic advances, character development, foreshadowing, antagonist, protagonist, etc. Some feel their story is already written, that no matter what they do the threads will unravel revealing their ending. Others know that they are not only the lead, but also the writer, director, producer and editor.
Some have already decided how their story will end, whether it be heartbreak, death, despair, surrounded by family, tragedy, comedy, inspiring, discouraging. Most write our stories based on the previous experiences of other. Girl meets boy, falls in love, perfect wedding, 2.5 kids, 3.4 cars. Others know how to change the plot to suit their current preferences. Some “will” their story to change enough, only to later blame the results on others, out of denial of the realization that they are the real writer.

Our taste in that which personifies us changes to suit our current chapter. Whether socially, culturally, physically or emotionally driven; we are a product of our surroundings. The “Grieving Widow” who dresses in all black, throughout her “Mourning Period,” the Doctor donning scrubs in his “Career Chapter,” the “Starving Student” in the Sweat Pant wearing “Education Period.” The soundtrack follows similar fashion. The “Stoner High School Dropout” baking to Led Zeppelin, the “Aspiring D.J.” in his “Rep Building Chapter,” the “New Mother” listening religious to Mozart and Bach in attempt to better the future of her offspring.

Why do some know the power they possess to change the outcome, while others are convinced the writing is on the walls? Do those who understand their power lead more “enriched” lives or cause themselves more sadness when the outcome is not what they plotted? If my life has already followed a story line that I am not a born artist, firefighter or astronaut, does that mean that I never have the potential to make a influence in those arenas?

Has every story already been read? Have enough people begun from start to finish to leave no ending an “original,” no chapter a “first time,” no experience a “one and only?’ I’d like to think of myself as an individual human being, but has someone already lived my story, from start to finish, relayed it to others and know the ending. Are there only so many ways to rewrite history and thus an ending? Has my “twin” from another decade experienced the same emotions, situations and reactions in the same order and survived to tell it?

As original as I think I am, am I really just reliving someone’s story? The only difference being the music, fashion and slang of the time period? When chapters conclude in manners we did not predict, do we attempt to control the next so that the ending is more congruent? Are “control freaks” controlling the lines, the plot, the characters or the ending of the story?