Are we really in control?

Question

If you have no disabilities, no real problems, college educated, have talents, do not have kids, are not married, genuinely nice person who treats others as you wish to be treated, work full time, continually expand your education, don't do drugs, not an alcoholic, do not engage in criminal activity, have goals dreams and direction in life; in your opinion do you have control of achieving the things you want to achieve, and be the person you want to be? Is it a matter of luck? Is it a matter of being in the right place at the right time? Is it a matter of having the right connections who can help you be what you want to be? Or is it just a matter of constantly believing in yourself and applying yourself consistenly "trial and error" no matter what obstacles come your way? I certainly understand that we can only control what we do, and not what other people do regardless of the situation. However, do we have choices of where we will ultimately end up and be? I want to do the best I can.

Answer 1

I believe it's a combination of luck, opportunity, preparation and courage but the most influential factors would have to be perseverance, commitment and motivation to achieve one's goals because you will always stumble upon road blocks along the way. If you have the will and determination to overcome those stumbling blocks, I believe you can get there.

Answer 2

Everything helps... but in the end "Luck" if you want to call it that, is the determining factor...

Everything else merely modifies the chances of whether that luck is going to be good or bad...

You could be an ignorant slacker and somehow end up set for life and get everything you dreamed of, or you could be extremely intelligent and determined and have everything a person could ask for, and get hit by a car the next day...

There is no such thing as absolute control, so nothing is guaranteed.

Answer 3

Yes, you're in the drivers seat. You can do or become whomever or whatever you want. It's just a matter of doing it. If you want it bad enough you can do it. If you don't you won't. You'll inevitably hit brick walls along the way, some people stop, some people go through the wall. The brick walls are only there to separate that people who succeed from the people who give up.

Answer 4

It's a matter of being a human being that almost always revolves around trial and error. Life is life and it's random so to a certain extent no you're not in control and yes you are at the same time.

Answer 5

For the most part we are in control of our own lives, we make decisions and either pay the price for them or receive the benefits of our decisions, the only exception in our lives that we have no control is the uncontrollable events that happen in our lives based on the forces of nature or being at the mercy of decisions made by others in society that may affect us, however it is in our control how we accept it and handle it, and find a solution to the problems that do not result in a fate of death beyond our control, ultimately we control how successful we are, how smooth our lives are and so fourth by the decisions we choose carefully.

Answer 6

Here Control is not the central or core issue.To succeed in life one needs all that what you mentioned and then some more.Success is a very vague term but if we break it in to Aims,Goals,Tasks,Targets etc ,the process to achieve them gets more in to the field of tangibles and hence capable of being handled efficiently and with reasonable degree of assurance of success.We see many people who had what it takes to succeed, but didn't because they couldn't manage the resources.to their advantage.So what one needs more is the management of resources including their creation /search, utilization/exploitation,harmonization and after achieving the goal/target,consolidation and stabilization.SWAT analysis and other management tools available prove handy and useful.Lastly,unless one is involved in an extraordinary mission,a success in our goals/targets etc is more of an best all rounder performance than any thing else.Where required,we can always take or hire expert advice or assistance.All the best.

Answer 7

We are definitely not in total control of things. We didn't choose whom to be our parents, our looks, our intelligence, etc.All things happen due to the presence of necessary conditions. Example, to break a glass. Condition 1. the glass has to be breakable, 2. there must force, 3. the force must has enough strength to break the glass, etc. Do your best, that's all. Remember the prayer ? : Change what that is changeable, leave what that can not be change and has the wisdom to differentiate the two.

Answer 8

some like a fools paradise but the world around us dictates things are not actually so huncky dory as you think.