"Choose my Own Destiny"

As we stand in the present, every moment’s a fight,

What exactly stops us from living with a clear mind?

Is it our fear of failing, a future we have yet to find,

An undefined vision, with no certainty in sight?

It’s the state in which the mind is set to foresee.

A feeling of the splendid that has yet to be.

Your inclination, your vision, from your sensibility.

So ask yourself, “Must others be the ones to expect for me?”

For how long exactly do we have to endure,

Waiting for a picture of the future to be formed.

You can use it as your drive, a challenging motivation,

But believe me when I say, that’s not how we’re made to function.

All our life we have been given numerous maps,

Meticulous maps dictating the paths we’re assigned.

And put us at a chokehold for the time that has elapsed,

This we try to satisfy when truly, it's a trap.

“I should’ve went my own pace, nor should I have listened,”

That’s the ending we achieve when those maps don’t seize to glisten,

“I should be doing something fun, enjoying my existence,”

Well is that truly possible when pressure’s at your assistance?

Seriously, what good is brought by a mind bustling with tension.

When things you’re meant to relish are out of your attention.

Then, should my life be filled with peace and relaxation?

What I’m trying to say is keep your composure amidst these distractions.

But what exactly must be the mightiest way,

That can rid the cloudiness in everyone's mind?

It's to protect what's inside, never let it fade away,

The fire of real ambition that only you could truly find.

In a world where other people seem to blow past,

And suppresses the fire which is truly within.

We must use that fire to burn those maps at last,

For when you are free from misdirection, is when you truly win.

As singer-dancer Britney Spears once told a fortune-teller, “No thanks, I choose my own destiny.”

An elocution piece by Nicolo Delos Reyes of Grade 10. Delivered through spoken poetry.