  urlLink Monday Mission 1. Can you think of one single decision you made that changed the course of your life. A decision where if you had done something else, everything would be different now? I can think of two extremely important decisions I made, less than 20 seconds apart, that, had I not made the choices I did, would have changed my life significantly. In fact, my life would most likely have ended. One night, the restaurant where I was working had just closed and I was in the back cleaning up when I heard a loud crack, glass shattering, and frantic shouting.
I ran up to the front to see what was going on and as soon as I came through the swinging door I saw. Charles, our dishwasher (an exchange student from Nigeria) was slowly going down to the floor, dropping the glass plates he was carrying as he when down. I noticed blood pouring from his ear, the one that faced me. I think I started to ask "what happened" before I understood the situation. I saw my manager with his hands up, panicking (I saw real fear in his eyes), I saw an arm over the counter with a gun in it, I saw my co-workers behind the counter (including my sister) and I knew what had just happened. I sized up the situation and made for the back exit before the gunman had time to think about what to do with me.
One of the police officers later told me that she was sure the gunman would have shot me (he had murdered several people already, during other robberies). I had made the right decision to head for the back exit. Almost as soon as I started running for the back door, I'd remembered that I saw a car pull up in the back parking lot about 10 minutes before, so I ran for the freezer instead. My gut reaction was "don't go out back". That saved my life as well. As I learned at the trial, the gunman had a partner and he was waiting out back.
Two quick decisions, less than 20 seconds apart, not only changed my life, but saved my life as well. 2. Or maybe you think "the fates" have it all planned out for us. Do you think every life has a pre-determined course, that we will wind up at point X regardless of the decisions we make? Who knows, all I can tell you is that I don't feel like a puppet attached to some cosmic string. Life feels random.
But I can't rule out anything. It'd be close-minded and arrogant of me to totally dismiss fate and destiny altogether. I don't believe in God, the biblical God, but I haven't ruled out a higher power altogether. We don't know everything, we're but a small speck in a massive universe; all of our learning, our knowledge, our science, may just be a tiny glimpse into what is real. After all, we have a limited perspective, no? 3.
Do you think that it is that left up to us and random chance to decide who we are with? Are we are guided to the person we were meant to be with or could you be with the wrong person while "the one" is still somewhere out there? They say that there is someone for everyone, but so far, there's been no one for me. I don't go out very much, never have really, and that, among other things, has cut down on my chances of meeting someone. Meeting people is random, the right place at the right time. No one has knocked on my door guided by destiny.
4. Do you like to drink and get drunk? When was the last time you were drunk or hung over? What was the occasion? How did it feel at the time? How did it feel the next day?
I enjoy a drink now and then, but I don't like being totally drunk. I used to drink a lot, back before I turned 21. One night, I drank so much that I passed out the moment I hit my bed. I woke up the next morning, fully dressed still, and covered in vomit. I had thrown up while asleep, which could have killed me had I not been sleeping on my side. I was shocked and angry.
That was the end of heavy drinking for me. Nowadays, I'll drink in moderation, I'll get buzzed, but I never get totally shitfaced anymore. I liked the freedom from inhibitions that being really drunk provides, but I hated the hangovers and the loss of control. I like to be in control of my faculties. 5. On the same topic, have you ever done anything you regret while "under the influence?
" What happened? Do you remember it or did you have to be told? Hmmmm... I don't know. When I got wasted, I normally wasn't mean or anything, just silly. I remember being told that people had to walk me home before, which I didn't remember.
Apparently, I was so drunk I couldn't even stand up straight or walk more than a step or two. Oh! Wait! I regret getting my stupid "Cheri" tattoo. Had I been sober, I would not have 1) started it, or 2) let my brother-in-law finish it (I'd passed out). 6.
Were you/are you able to resist peer pressure in school/college? How? If not, what did you do that you wish you hadn't? Anything I did I did because I wanted to, not because of peer pressure. I've always been my own person. I've never really done things to "fit in" or because someone else said I should.
I've turned down drinks and drugs on many, many occasions. 7. What things are better left unsaid? Things that will unnecessarily hurt someone's feelings. BONUS: Isn't this world a crazy place? It's crazy!
Crazy! Craaaazy! Everything must go! ! 
