A.J. Winters: You determine your own future

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, June 7, 2017

To put off a problem.
Is to put it in someone else’s hand …
For a while now, I have failed to do my part, as a writer, as an intern, but I believe that it has lead up to these words I shall now spell.
As the school year ends, we look up to our elders. Our seniors. Our parents. Not only as an individual, but as a group. We have witnessed the people closest to us graduate, and move on to a new world. Not a new life, but a new world of possibilities. A world of adventure. A world of experiences. A world of mistakes. That only leaves the question.
“What are we to do next?”
Every single day. Every single day, we move closer to the future. However, whether that day is well spent, that is up to us. We determine the future of our education. Our social relationships. Our experience. Our wisdom and lack thereof. Slowly pushing our way out of the mysterious cocoon. However, the dilemma of life is, what shall hatch. Will we become a beautiful butterfly, gently gliding across the wind? Or in contrast, will we become the moth quietly flying near the flame?
With this illusion, another dilemma arises. What is right? A butterfly may be beautiful, but perhaps the colors distract from a shallow nature. Perhaps the truth is that when a butterfly’s wings are clipped, they simply wither away. Some fight, some fade away.
Science says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Much as with life. Everything has two sides. For beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but love is blind! Along with that, society sets standards that are tightropes. However, who said a moth cannot be beautiful? Who said that the flame must be temptation? What if the flame is love? A love for a job, a hobby, a special someone.
With all this in mind, what is next? What will we do, to make a better tomorrow? They are counting on us! No pressure! Despite popular belief, you don’t have to deal with it alone. Smile, as a friend. Ask a parent, and vice versa. No one knows everything.
That’s why tomorrow is fun.

“A.J.” (Adam Morris) Winters is a rising junior at Americus-Sumter High School and loves to write. He interning at the Americus Times-Recorder this summer.