Can You Design Your Destiny?

I was cleaning out my desk the other day and came upon something that sent chills down my back.  I was in awe as I looked at it.

Memories from 20 years ago came swirling back.

Do you have an opinion about how your future is determined?  Maybe you believe that you are in sole control of the long-term outcome of your life.  Perhaps you have ingrained faith that a higher power completely navigates your path. There's a good chance you fall somewhere in between.  That's where I stand.

Because I believe we are each given unique abilities, the key is to first find them, blend them in with the things we are most passionate about, and then get to work.  The getting to work part really begins at the starting line where you are inspired by something and choose to follow only your own true voice.  You must then identify in real concrete terms what it is you want.  

After I graduated from college at the University of South Dakota in 2000, I had no idea what I was doing next.  I didn't know what I should pursue.  I was frustrated because I thought college was supposed to answer it all. 

I will say, however, college did answer who I should spend the rest of my life with trying to figure it out ;-)  I now realize that was far more important.

In my cloud of confusion about my career and purpose, trying to find answers, I read self help books that talked about a common theme:

Make a "vision board" which comprises anything that inspires you. 

I did just that.  It included pictures of people I looked up to.  I had a picture of DJ Tiesto since electronic music was my obsession.  I had pictures of art.  Some were abstract and others were centered around mesmerizing landscapes and exotic locations.  It had all kinds of inspiring quotes.

I found DJ Tiesto's quote completely demolished in my drawer, but it must have been important to me since the pieces still remain. 

It was all pretty cheesy, indeed I must admit. 

The books then told me to do something quite simple:

Draw something you envision accomplishing.  

So I did. The intention of the exercise is to force you to transform the abstract thoughts in your mind to something tangible, something you can see and really grab hold of--literally. 

It wanted me to design my destiny.  It wanted me to remind myself of it every day.

I have no idea why, but I drew this room as part of my vision board.  I recall having a fascination with finally having my own house with a room that was dedicated to creativity.  It would only contain items that I created.  It would be for pictures I took of various travel destinations on my bucket list. 

I would look at my vision board every day hanging on my wall, and it would remind me of things worth pursuing.  It would help me define who I was and what I wanted to experience in my life.

After several moves and lots of chapters in life, the drawings were put into files.  

Perhaps throwing them away was not the right thing to do.  

(Maybe they could exist in my subconscious.) 

Suddenly, all of these memories came rushing back to me.

Not to mention there were many spine-tingling chills with it. 

As I was cleaning out some old files at my desk, I accidentally discovered the drawing I did back in 2000.

I sat back down at my computer and paused. I was taken aback.  

I looked up at the very studio I previously built inside my mind almost 17 years ago.

I smiled only to realize I had designed my destiny.