Everyone has the right to live his life as he sees fit, or even as he doesn't see fit. Everyone has the right to open the door he chooses to open. And everyone has the right to close the door he chooses any time he wants. He has the right to change his mind and choose another door.

Progress in life is made through steps. Steps are chosen or not chosen. They are fast or slow.

Even what seems to be random is a choice made. It may have been made before you knew it, and yet you made the choice. You saw the package arrive at your door before it arrived. You opened it. Or you didn't open it. Perhaps you didn't even see it, and that was your choice.

Yes, of course, there are subconscious choices. Even your fate is your choice. As hard as that may be to swallow, do you think that your fate is not your choice? You may accept that reasoning if you are where you want to be now. You won't accept that reasoning if you are somewhere where you don't want to be.

Who would want to be in prison, you might ask, and, yet, warden and prisoner, each chose. Somewhere down the line, each chose.

Of course, some choices made come slowly. Others happen fast.

You reach your hand up into the sky, and you choose a star. You may choose with your eyes closed, and yet you choose a star.

You chose your destiny, and yet you can change it. That is also your choice. You can choose a nickel or a dime. You can choose a fortune.

This perspective can be difficult to accept and certainly difficult to understand, yet you might as well accept it. You are the captain of your ship. You are the master of your soul's journey in this lifetime. You are the predictor of your life. What you choose, you have chosen.

This may seem like a heartless theory to you. At the same time, this is your freedom.

Regardless of your choices, however, you are free to experience them in the manner you choose. You can sign for the package you ordered. You can miss seeing the package. You can fight it. You can throw it away. You can do many things. What you do and how you do it is your choice. Even when it seems like you have no choice, you have choice. You can see other possibilities. You can begrudge, or you can move on. You can take it as your share, or you can fuss and scream.

Be assured I am not speaking of passivity here. I am not speaking of passive resistance. I am not speaking of resistance at all. That is, I am not recommending it, although I realize that how I see resistance and how you see it may be two different things.

If you flunked a test at school, you could blame the teacher. You could fight the grade the teacher gave. You could scorn the teacher. You could scorn yourself. You also could start studying or studying harder. There are many alternatives before you, and they are yours to think of and to choose as you choose. There is more than meets the eye. There is more than fighting or taking something lying down. It is your choice to expand your horizons or not to expand your horizons.

You are the reactor to your own life. You are the preceptor of it as well. Who lives your life if not you? Who carries your thoughts if not you? Who chooses to be programmed or not programmed? Who chooses violence or peace? Who chooses to smile or to frown? Who chooses God or not?