The Choices We Make by Sahara

The Choices We Make by Sahara - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

“Nobody can make your life miserable. Nobody has that power over you.” I looked down at my feet as I absorbed his words. My mother had just finished reciting one of her many tales of woe, complete with characters that were seemingly out to get her. The only problem is that I know many of these people in her stories. They are my family members, ones who have brought me happiness and ones who have done everything they can to treat me well. They are not the monsters she makes them out to be, and yet, every story brings a new tale of how some person has managed to ruin her life, and how she’ll never be able to be happy. I looked up. My uncle was staring down at me, trying to assess if I was truly understanding what he was saying. I have always known that we make our own decisions and that though we may not have control over some of the things that happen to us, we do have control over how we react. My uncle is the one who made me realize how powerful that control really is.
My uncle is not a traditional teacher, he doesn’t work in a classroom, he doesn’t even have a degree, but he is a teacher. He taught me that I can choose to be happy. About eight years ago my aunt, his wife, died due to kidney failure. This was about a year after their house burnt completely to the ground and happened during the stages of rebuilding. The house, however, was in her name and my uncle couldn’t afford it so, tragically, he lost his home yet again. Although he had to deal with so much loss in such a short time, he still managed to put on a brave face and follow the advice he would pass on to me a few years later. He has not remarried, and he has not found a house to call his own, but I believe he has found some peace with himself. He does not blame my aunt for her untimely death, and he does not blame anybody else for the loss of his beloved home. He took responsibility for his actions and he continues to do so. He chose to be happy, and he taught me that every day, every moment, is an opportunity for me to choose the same.
Life is full of choices—when to go to sleep, when to wake up, what to wear, what to eat—you design your life every single day you live it. So it makes sense that happiness is a choice as well. You can choose to be happy even when terrible things happen to you. You can choose to be happy even when you are given ten reasons not to be. This is a lesson of life that everyone is capable of learning and yet, there are people who choose the opposite. They choose self-pity and loathing, they choose anger, and then lash out at their loved ones. My uncle taught me the importance of living your life the way you want to live it, and that happiness is a choice that you have to make every day. Other people do not hold the power to determine your life, and that lesson will influence the choices I make for the rest of my life.