I have a lot on my mind today. I’ve been thinking about all the changes that have taken place in my life over the past few months. I think it’s safe to say that all of them have been for the better. so I think it’s time to make a few changes in my attitude to enhance it all for myself and for the people I care about. I’ve spent my whole life thinking of certain events as inevitable or fated or predestined. I’ve put ridiculous amounts of faith in omens, portents, karma, superstition, you name it. and all it has ever done for me is made me terrified. it keeps me from enjoying the good things in my life. it keeps me constantly on edge, waiting for things to go sour. or—worse—it keeps me blindly convinced that good fortune is just around the corner when I’m feeling low. “fortune.” I mean, get real, folks. I expend too much mental energy analyzing why a certain song was on the radio at a certain time, or whether picking up pennies is good luck or not (I mean, it’s money regardless). and I think it’s time I see it all for what it is: horse shit. we make our own destinies. we control the future. I’m not saying that I don’t believe in a higher power; of course I do. and I’m not saying that He doesn’t exert influence over every one of us. I just have to believe that nothing is fixed. that courses can be altered. that we aren’t helpless to put a stop to a chain reaction. and you know what? it’s going to make me a hell of a lot happier.