Make your destiny...

What it means to be a person is your creation. The meaning of human existence, our provenance and destiny, the essence and definition of us all -- these are not found or discovered; they are invented. - Peter Koestenbaum, co-author/philosopher, Freedom And Accountability at Work

Providence and destiny are not found. They are created.

What a powerful and liberating thought.

Powerful in the sense that if destiny is not something bestowed, people can take back from the fog of modern life, their ability to choose the things they will do with the rest of their life.

Liberating in the sense that free will and choice gives people the power to determine how each day, each moment will be for them no matter what the current circumstance.

Providence is our creation.

Destiny is what we make it.

What we become from this moment forward is up to each of us.

History is littered with examples from Martin Luther King to Gandhi. Even today the examples of people who fashion their lives much different from their beginnings, their middles and up to their ends surround us. They range from mega stars such as Madonna and Will Smith to titans in business such as Bill Gates to political powerhouses such as Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Providence is our creation. Destiny is what we make it.

We can probably think of examples of people in our personal lives -- mother, father, teacher, neighbor, co-worker -- who kept picking up and moving forward despite the challenges they faced.

Providence is our creation. Destiny is what we make it.

We may even remember a time when the world was new and the "reality" of life's little circumstances had not chipped away at our dreams.

Providence is our creation. Destiny is what we make it.

And even though, many feel as if the die for themselves has already been cast, they find ways to teach their children that they can be anything they want to be in life.

Providence is our creation. Destiny is what we make it.

But the die has not been cast. There is still time.

Whatever the current circumstance may be, it will not be forever. Time moves on. The only constant is change.

Providence is our creation. Destiny is what we make it.

What it means to be a person is our creation.

What will you do with the time you have left?

Build on your success.

Let go of any failure.

And blaze a new trail for yourself.

There is still time.

Shape providence and destiny to your own liking.

Bush, Hillary, the Dalai Lama and You!

Smile! And get ready to climb the Himalayas of your life as it unfolds in ways worthy of being remembered.

There have been some amazing stories this week. One, in fact, is about you.

But your story has some stiff competition...

President George W. Bush attends a ceremony where the Dalai Lama receives the Congressional Medal of Honor. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton polls show her with support of 57-percent of the women vote in the democratic primary. And Mischa Berlinski, a reporter for Harper's Magazine, uncovers the story behind the story of a woman from India who reportedly married a snake.

And you, dear reader, are happy.

All of this may seem like news to you. Even the last story about yourself. But it is just as interesting and just as important as the others.

Oh you had not heard any of these stories? Not even the one about you?

Let me give you a quick recap...

President Bush defied the wishes of China - one of the U.S.'s largest trading partners and rival super power - and attended a ceremony this week where Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, received the Congressional Medal of Honor. This is no small feat. Tibet is struggling to be free of Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama is recognized as the leader of the Tibetan people. To honor him with our nation's highest honor basically says that the U.S. supports their struggle.

Now Bush could have shrugged the entire affair off. He could have simply blamed the episode on an unruly Congress that does not understand or appreciate the delicate dance of super powers armed with nuclear weapons and competing global interests. But he didn't. Nope. Not only did he attend but he met with the Dalai Lama before the event. And he told the President of China that he was going to do it before it happened. He was very bold in standing up for the principals of freedom.

Then Bush went on to veto a bill that would have extended healthcare to millions of poor children. Go figure.

During the same week, there was news showing that New York Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was leading in polls among women voters. That is simply amazing. Up until now, the conventional wisdom has been that women won't vote for another woman to be president -- especially educated ones.

Why? Well, cause some people seem to think that women just don't trust another woman to do the job.

The final bit of interesting news competing for the story about you, dear reader, arrived in the mail this week. Billed as "a peculiar love story," Haitian author Mischa Berlinski penned an article in Harper's Magazine about an Indian woman who married a Cobra snake. An odd story to be sure. But it was one that reportedly spread via the news media from the east Indian state of Orissa to Fox News in the U.S.

Once the story hit Fox News, it was christened as the foil for conservatives to bash supporters of gay marriage by none other than Daniel Henniger, an opinion page editor of the Wall Street Journal, who wondered aloud on national TV if the "next movement is not going to be allowing people to marry their pet horse, dog or cat."

You got to laugh about this stuff. Marry a dog or cat? Marry a snake? Who in the world would take that as true?

Apparently, millions of people do. Except maybe one and he decided to do what thousands of news people didn't do before they spread the story around the globe -- check it out at the source. Had Henniger, Fox and others done the same thing as Berlinski did they would have probably found the same thing -- a shy, reclusive 30 year-old Bimbala Das living in a hut and oblivious to the new found fame as a global news item.

What they would not have found is a snake-as-groom.

It is a very interesting piece that speaks volumes about who we are as a global community, what different people believe and how they express those beliefs. I encourage you, dear reader, to explore the piece for yourself. After all, the story and thousands of other bits and pieces, are your competition.

Yes you dear reader. Your life, your happiness and all that is unique about you as a person is a worthy story.

You live. You love. You dream.

And all of that is the lead story of your life with the bold headline, I AM HAPPY.

Or at least that could be the bold headline. If you want it.

What will you do with the news of your life unfolding today? Decide right now how you, as the scribe of your life, will tell the world your amazing story.

Will you be bold and extend the hand of friendship in the face of the disapproving China in your life? Will you defy the conventional wisdom and make friends in an unlikely quarter? Will you seek the truth when others just accept what is being said?

Dear reader, will you do the things that make you truly happy?

Then do it.

Think of one, small thing that will bring you joy. Just one. And let your life today unfold in ways that are worth being remembered by you and those around you.


Enjoy.