To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

[Erraticvisitor702]

Virtually none. Wanted to get college degree - didn't mostly because of economics. Work in an industry my father worked in because he got me hired for my first job in it. It's a cool industry (construction trades & general contracting) and I've loved most of my jobs in it but that's just luck, I didn't control it or choose it. I work where I had family influence, I live in a house a dead relative owned and inlaws asked us to move into, ended up buying it only for that reason because family gave us a great deal so I didn't really control or choose that either.

Typical white middle class "success" story: Dad got me hired into a profession for which I was unqualified then family sold me an inherited house at a discount. No, I've never controlled or chosen anything but that's not really a complaint, I never expected to control or choose anything because that's really our natural condition, we don't choose to eat food, construct shelter and raise children, we just react and adapt to the environment we encounter. I suppose I could just as easily say reacting and adapting is 'control' so guess maybe it's complicated; we sort of control nothing but at the time, sort of controlling everything.