"You can do anything you set your mind to, but it's not enough to just want it; you have to crave it." My mother told me this when I was very young, and that is how I decided to live my life. Not abiding by others standards, but making my own. Not giving in to rejection and criticism, but learning from it and using it to better my person as a whole. Throughout my life I continue hearing this word 'fate'. Of course I know the basic meaning behind it, but I realized later I really don't understand the true meaning behind. I began to ask for peoples opinions on this concept of fate, and found that most believe fate portrays ones destiny in life. So I began to ask myself: Are they trying to tell me that my life is predetermined? That no matter what I want to accomplish in my lifetime, I may not be able to because fate and destiny said so? I have to say this idea didn't really agree with me. I couldn't stand the thought of having some unknown force that I really knew nothing about controlling my life. I grew to believe I can control my life; so why should I let fate compromise my beliefs? One of my friends shared an opinion on fate that many others do. He said nothing can change your destiny. One is born the way they are, and they will live their life however fate tells them to. To make a long story short, I didn't agree with him. One of his arguments says a person is either born rich or born poor; a child can't have a say in that. This I believe to be true. However it falls apart when he says that will be the life that one leads, because fate has predetermined it so. In exchange I told him the story of a boy born into a poor family with the dream of being rich. This boy didn't want to except his so called destiny. According to my friend, he would have to live out the rest of his life poor, never to accomplish his dream which fate couldn't give him. This young man was determined, some could even say obsessed. So obsessed with his goal, he took a piece of paper, created his own idea of a million dollar bill, and put it on his ceiling, right above his bed. Every morning he would wake up seeing this image of a million dollar bill, reminding him to stay focused despite the narrow-minded criticism. In short, he became a millionaire, making more money than fate would have him to. Needless to say, my friend had to rethink his evaluation on fate. I don't believe in such a thing called fate. I am my own person, and as such I refuse to let fate control my life. I will create my own destiny.

"You can do anything you set your mind to, but it's not enough to just want; you have to crave it."
Lender M. Duhaney