Seems to me like everyone in this world has a place. We inhabit this position during our lifetimes, be it social, intellectual, or what have you. The problem is that nobody really has any clue what the hell they're doing. If we were all born with a label ("Laywer", "Compassionate Soul", yes, I know those are two ends of the spectrum...) everything would be so much easier. On the other hand, wouldn't that make life a lot more boring? I don't know if I really want to grow up to be whatever's tatooed on my forehead. I'd much rather have my hair grow out so I could never ever read what was there -- just ignore my destiny and start the life that I think I'm supposed to have. If I screw up, so what? Who's gonna know anyway? If I'm meant to be president, and I end up being someone who people come to for help, which is the better life? Am I better off as a kind, compassionate being, or someone in charge of the national defense system? Should I have the power to resolve issues with a hug and a soft touch? or with a nuclear bomb? People are much better off not knowing their destiny, or without it altogether. Destiny is like reading a mystery from the back to the front, all the surprises are gone, and you're always trying to piece together events that haven't happened yet. Why worry about that which is in the future and which you have no business knowing anyway? I recently attended a funeral for a 17 year old classmate of mine. Seventeen, and already he had decided that he didn't need to keep living. To me, that's awfully fucking depressing. What would happen if we knew earlier than 17 what we were supposed to do with our lives? What if we didn't like it? Mass suicide? Rivers flowing with blood? Good god I hope not... For the sake of all intelligence and all mankind, and any compassion that still exists in a world torn by hunger, disease, and ravaged by international warfare, I pray to whatever bizarre deity or spirit it is that I believe in (I'm not entirely sure what that is... I took a test once that said I was either a unitarian or a pagan, so maybe even the gods are confused as to what and who the fuck they are...) that we maintain some sense of order, that the basic principle of life be upheld: to Live. As for me, I think I'll ignore whatever's written down for me and choose my own path. After all, there are still paths to be blazed in this great wilderness of humanity.