Finding Meaning In William Henley's 'Invictus'

This is Reality
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul,” Invictus by William Henley. Henley’s ailing; dark experiences of pain and suffering led him to these forever impacting words. As we are tossed into life’s inevitable twists and turns, we each have defining moments in our lives where we must make a choice. The choices we make daily are just as defining as the ‘big’ choices. We control how we feel; whether it’s happiness, sadness, anger, hatred, love, or fear, we are the masters of our fate; not our default setting. It is our choice to be aware of the beauty life holds and to decide what holds meaning in our lives. We have the freedom of thought. No one can force us to think a certain way; we have to choose how we are
We decide what holds meaning in our lives and what we pay attention to. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in ourselves that we become so completely unaware of reality. The people around us have worries and hardships we know nothing about. If we were more compassionate to people and we learned to alter our default setting we would not only be happier with ourselves and with the world around us, but we could even make the world a better place; one choice, one decision at a time. If we keep living with our default setting as our compass then not only will our lives actually seem more miserable, but the world will always be out to get us. If we can choose to pull our heads out of the clouds and realize that other people have dreadful adversities that “Thank God” you didn’t have to deal with, you will find life’s hidden secrets and see it’s real beauty. So many people stumble though life looking for some big beautiful thing to happen to them and while their eyes are bigger than their stomachs, the truly, miraculously beautiful creations are right under their feet. As they trudge through life’s ups and downs they are always searching but never really seeing. So many fail to see the breathtaking little miracles that we are blessed with every hour of everyday because we are consumed with themselves and wanting more than they already have, our default setting. Choose to be better, to care more, to love more and to be empathetic. Make that