never though that my dream could also be my worst nightmare. What was about to happen in my life is the main reason why I don’t believe in destiny. We must control our own fate. The millions of decisions that we make throughout our lives are decided by us. Especially the decisions we make in a fraction of a second. I write my own story.

There I was, standing in the batter’s box, looking around at a sea of over eight thousand people. Some dressed in blue, some in red. I looked up at the press box to see the two respectable men selected to announce the 2010 Little League New England finals. Although Bobby Valentine and Karl Ravech have been in exciting games, even they were on the edge of their seats. At the time, I already believed that I created my own destiny. I had no idea that the next pitch would secure this belief into my everyday life. It was the kind of ending that you loved to see in video games or backyard wiffle ball. Bottom of the last inning, two outs, bases loaded, full count, down by a run. All in all, it wasn’t a fun experience, especially when the game decides who will advance to Williamsport.
Reluctantly, I stepped into the box and slowly dug in my back foot. After I got my knees to stoop shaking, I turned my head to look at the pitcher. I couldn’t help but noticing the ESPN camera above his head, positioned just beyond the center field fence. The pitcher seemed as nervous as I was, even when he was ahead by a run. When he started his windup, everything around him became a blur. It was like all of my senses shut down and concentrated solely on the kid standing forty-six feet away from me. There was no doubt in my mind that the pitch coming at me would be a fastball. Who would dare throw an off-speed pitch in this situation? As he released the ball, everything seemed to slow down. The gun said that it was sixty-four M.P.H., but I would have guessed around fifty. It was one of those borderline pitches that you knew was a ball, but you had to swing at with a full count
This is where my life changes. I had hesitated, just the slightest bit. I wasn’t going to swing; I knew it was a little high. As I started to bring my hands through, I stopped. But as the pitch got closer, my lack of plate discipline got the better of me. I had finished the swing. At that exact moment, my life changed. At least I went down swinging.
This is why I firmly believe that we created our own life story. This impacted my everyday life. Instead of just going with what everyone else is doing and copying their life story, I make every decision my own. Personal, unique decisions that create what is going to happen to me in the years to come.