I just found a book that I wrote in 1998 - Control your own fate

When I was a child in California, a teacher told me that if I really wanted to, and I tried, I could do anything that I put my mind to. I took these words to heart, and done just that.

If you hold an interest and you're living your dreams, no matter how outlandish that they may seem, you can do it!

Truth is what you believe

-XZanthia

Part one

Opportunity

Opportunity will step out of the way, to let a man pass it by.

Life is full of opportunity, however opportunity will step out-of-the-way to let a man passing by.

Every moment of every day there is an opportunity to be had by you. However opportunity is not going to come knocking on your door. You must go looking for it. We are all our own forest Gump's. We all have opportunity falling in our lap every moment of every day, if we took the first opportunity to get out of bed in the morning.

Many people look at opportunity as being one great thing…

The opportunity of a lifetime.

This is not as it is. Opportunity is a compilation of many small opportunities. You must recognize all the opportunities of the day to see the greater ones. You must make it an involuntary response to find daily opportunities. Once you are successfully seeing your opportunities then you will be followed by the greater opportunities. Think of opportunities as a staircase, leading to your goal. People can be opportunities, places, and events most anything. All steps toward your greater goal. Your life and it's and is the verdict of your life's choices. The ends to the path that you have taken throughout your life. Each path is it's own opportunity. Some paths may be long and Windee, many may be bumpy and quite difficult to travel.

We must all choose our own paths. The paths that lead to our chosen destination.

Robert Frost, a famous American poet wrote a classic palm on the roads of life. It illustrates a good point. That sometimes the roads traveled by everyone else may not be the better choice.

The Road not taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I cannot travel both.

And be one traveler, long I stood.

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had one of them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay 

in leaves no step had tried in black.

I shall be telling this with a side

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverse in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost 1874-1963

  

Part two

 The familiar path

Many people tend to choose whatever path tends to be in front of them at that time. Whichever path is the most manageable. Most often this path is dark or foggy. It is a long and bring you back to where you started. Or it may be a long path to travel a short distance. This is a rats. Many people get into a rut. They will follow the same path over and over not realizing that they are following their footprints. The longer they stay on that trail the deeper the right becomes. The deeper the right becomes the more difficult it is to climb out. It is easy to stay on the same path. There are no surprises. The land is familiar; and you never get lost. It is this comfort that holds many people back. The unwillingness to travel outside the unknown territory. They do not know what Malay at the end of the path that branches off of their familiar road. Without exploring there is no room for the soul to grow.

 If you feel that you are in a comfortable path, and may have not realized that the path has become a rut, the first step is always the hardest. That's step out of the hall and into foreign ground. However once you are out of the right and start on your own adventure to new land the danger of falling back into your old rides is ever present. Life is a struggle. No one ever said that it was going to be easy. It is no easier on your familiar path then it is on a path of a whole new world. The troubles in anxieties are the same for you if you are on the path that leads you around in circles are a path that climbs A mountain into the clouds. Just which one are you going to choose? 

Pull yourself out of your rut.

You're right can be caused too many things. All attributing to not completing your goal for whatever reason. Job, girlfriend or boyfriend, money, parents, friends, school, self laziness, living arrangements or environment, health or just about anything that you could make excuses for. You must find your follies and attack them. Correct yourself. Correct your environment. Correct your life.

It is up to you what path you take. The smallest decision as a child could in fact bring about your untimely death.

Example: at age age your older cousin lights you up a cigarette. You then have two simple paths to choose. If you decide to take a puff; what was your desire to do so? Why was that your choice? What made you choose that path? You knew it was wrong. You knew it was bad for you. You seen all the signs. Yet you still chose to do so. Pear Pressure.

Part three

Pear pressure is one of the greatest killers of dreams.

You should never let anyone else let you down. Swallow your pride, take your balls in your hand and do your damnedest! People are always out there trying to make someone else feel bad. Sometimes circumstances do get in the way. Even still you should always work your hardest. The only critic that you should listen to is yourself. Sometimes that right there is enough to get you down. You should always try your hardest and do your best no matter what anybody else says.

There are many ways throughout life that people will get you down, and you are discouraged from what you are working on because of them.

Example: one. At age 15 you are truly inspired to become a clothing designer. You study clothing design, take a sewing class and by several selling books and books on famous designs. And your selling class you were given an assignment to create an evening gown according to your own design. You're given a two week deadline. You spend the next two weeks working diligently. You are quite impressed with the result. You take the dress into class. All the dresses are placed in a final competition fashion show. Each dress gets a grade in award. I do 50 dresses you come in 50th.

Two. As a child you wish to become a famous artist. Your father tells you that you will never be able to make money as an artist, hence the term starving artist. So after years of discouragement, the realizing that you will never become a famous artist so you become a teller at a bank instead because that puts food on the table.

All the while the opportunity for you to become a famous artist are constantly passing you bye. The very people that you may speak to on a weekly basis may in fact be the vital connection/opportunity that you're becoming a famous artist. They could own an art gallery, ART magazine or Run art shows.

If you had still continued to do your art as a hobby despite any outward discouragement, you may slip this information over the counter any friendly conversation while the customer is waiting for the transaction to go through. If the customer seems to not be interested then convey to them that you would like to show them your art. They will often say; that would be great. If even to shut you up. However those words open the door for you. Now you can get together a portfolio, laser copy your favorite pieces at a copy store and create some type of professional press packet showing all your abilities, ways to contact you in a summary about you as an individual. This will be ready to give to the customer there next arrival.

Part five

Press packet

This packet can be personalized to the need of the individual. Depending on that persons wishes changes the content of the packet.

Examples:

One. If you are an artist you'll do as on the following page.

2. If you are a musician, you will put together a demo with a full color photo of the band along with your information about the music and how to contact you.

3. If you want to own a store, create a resume and start working at a privately own store. Speak with the owners on how they did it. Watch the way they do things. Learn from their mistakes. Manage their store before you start your own. Learn on their time and their expenses not yours.

4. If you want to become a professional fly fisher, take photographs of you with fish that you have caught, videos of you flyfishing and a story about how your passion for flyfishing developed and grew.

5. If you want to be a boxer, take some video footage of you boxing; xerox the award that you may have one, newspaper articles about you and magazine clippings. Combined your accomplishments and achievements and a booklet along with ways to contact you.

You get the idea; by now you should have the basic knowledge of how to create a press packet with your own abilities.

Making a press packet, resume or dream pamphlet is not that difficult. If money is a problem most any school or library allows you to use their computers. If you do not know how to use a computer find some bum with her life more pathetic than yours and they will teach you. Cut and paste or Photoshop, you're finished product should have your product, means to get in touch with you, and a summary of what it is that you have to offer. Perhaps you may want to place references, pass places where you performed, showed your work or fish. Whatever. Personalize it the best to you as an individual. And do not become frustrated with the finished product if it is not as you envisioned. It is better than what you had, which was nothing. And with each one you make you will become better. The worst someone will do is say no. Even in that case you were no worse than you already were. You lose nothing. But you'll never gain anything if you do not try.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Part five

Don't be another victim of circumstance-be a product of happenstance!

The whole world is full of cowards too afraid of leaving their front step. Too scared to venture into the unknown. Well we are not asking you to discover America or to fly to the moon for the first time. I'm simply saying live your dreams. If Columbus were too scared to sail to the ends of the earth the world would've been a different place. If Edgar Allan Poe would've given into his depression and the constant turmoil of his work we would not be blessed with such poetry today. You must try. And…

There is no time like the present!

Don't be led by your life, lead your life with your dreams and goals, do not be another person that allows life to happen while you're making other plans.

Take charge of your life!

It is your control.

Don't let anyone tell you how to live,

Or what to do.

This is the only life that you may have.

Make the best of it.

Leave your mark upon this earth.

Leave your tribute.

If you allow yourself to slip into a depression right of a repeated chain of events and you do not like the results, then

Change your actions!

Part six

The years are short and there are only 24 hours in a day.

Think about this. We all think that time is endless. That we always have tomorrow. That we can do it later, or next year. Well there is no time like the present. Our days here are numbered. We will die. Do you think that you'll see the year 2081? How very many occurrences could bring you your death by that time? If you feel that perhaps you are a child and you have plenty of time, I've seen many children die. We all hate talking about it and we all shove it in the back of our minds, and perhaps we will only grasp it while we lie dying. When that dying soul is you will you be able to say that you have gotten the most out of this life and you are happy with the accomplishments to that point?

Or would you feel unsatisfied with your life?

Seize the day!!

There is so much out there for us all. There is so much that it's possible for us to do. We can do so many things now that we never dreamt possible in the past. There is so much to learn. The Internet is a vast sea of knowledge open to us all. We as humans are capable of defining our own beliefs of possibilities. We are all gifted with a brilliant brain. As any muscle it must be worked. The more that it is worked, the stronger it becomes.

The point of all of this simply is; live your life to the fullest every day. With the rising Sun every morning you are reborn, new and refreshed. Mistakes are to be learned from and not regretted. Life is too short for regrets, hate and revenge. All these feelings use more energy than positive ones and they also shorten the quality of life for oneself.

Focus on more positive thinking.

(there is a lot more to this book. I will add more soon.)