Courage is Destiny

Three words that I heard everyday for 14 years, 10 of which I spent just hearing them without understanding what they meant, the time since then I've spent trying to live up to what I think it means.
Three words which I find comfort in. Three words that are my sanctuary.
Destiny is not something that a wise old man sporting a long white beard sitting up in heaven writes on a parchment. Its something we create for ourselves. Where we end up at the end of the day is something we decide for ourselves. Risks are not something that we are accustomed to taking all the time, but sometimes, maybe every one out of a hundred times, such a risk is worth taking, even if the odds against us are insurmountable. Its these times that define where we will end up at the end our lives, its these times that will define our destiny.
Each of these risks represents a choice that we have to make, choices that are more difficult than most things should be, even though its just a choice between two things, a 50-50 chance. Yet, what each of the options entails could change how the rest of our lives are determined. Knowing that and still having the courage to make those choices are what life is about. There is no purpose to it. Its just there.
Sadly, there isn't a rule book or a guide to tell what one should do when one is faced with a situation one doesn't want to be in (I wish there was, would make my life a lot easier). There is no guarantee that the option you choose is going to get you what you want or that it is the right one for you to make, knowing that, acknowledging and still making the choice is what my school motto means to me.
There are things that I've done that have scared the living daylights out of me and I do more of them every so often, but I still did them. Some of those I would have done differently if I got the chance today, but that's the advantage of time passing, it gives you 20/20 hindsight. The problem with it is that it also causes the manifestation of some regrets that you have to live with, lets face it, life doesn't give all that many second chances.
Lets just hope that it gives us enough of them that we don't have to live with any regrets. :-)