Spin the Wheel – Kayla Murrey

Freedom. It’s subjective, practically a construct. 

I remember it, not so much the event, more so the feeling. I think back to my childhood, I think of the person I used to be and who I’ve become now. I was bold and unafraid, I believed I held my will in my palm. That anything I could see within my minds eye, I could make a reality. I was free. Or was I? 

I think a lot about possible outcomes both for the future, and things that happened in the past. I contemplate the present. There are many what ifs. 

What if I had not done this? 

What if I had done it? 

What if take this path?

 What if I don’t succeed in life? 

What if I do, but find that I’m still not happy? 

What if… none of it matters in the end. 

There are two theories out there: one being Fatalism and the other Determinism. Are we bound by fate or are our actions casualties of our outcome? We freely make choices, this I know. But, do they truly have sole power over where we end up and who we become? Or is our fate predetermined to an extent?

Imagine this: a middle aged man, inveterate, and sure, enters a casino. His salt and pepper hair is lightly slicked back. He wears a leather jacket, and nice jeans. Rugged but suave. He has a look in his eyes, he’s here to win. He makes his way around the establishment, he plays the slots, craps, poker and roulette. Somehow he wins every game. Is it luck? Fate? Human nature? Is it choice, a call made through intuition and skill? Or is it crooked die? If you ask one hundred people the answers will vary. Some will say its pure luck, others will call it skill, and the rest  will say he cheated. Now, when someone truly gambles they aren’t cheating. The whole point of the gamble is that your not guaranteed a win or a loss. This is what life is. Sure, you make decisions, and those decisions have consequences both good and bad. However, there are limitations set by society and nature, internal and external circumstances that will steer your life. Your never truly free. Your not guaranteed anything, not even with your hard work or lack thereof. Some of your choices won’t matter, some will. Sometimes you won’t have a choice at all. But you must make the most of what you have. We have to be willing to gamble, and play for keeps, life’s too short not to. So, spin the wheel my friends, and watch closely. For who knows what will become of us?