Mexican Chapter

Congratulations to Detroit and the fans of the Tigers for having such a successful baseball season.

It was amazing to see Mexicans in Monterrey wearing the Old(e) English D, which is the logo that has become symbolic of the entire Motor City. Likewise, Mexican Americans in Metro Detroit experienced a surge of civic pride within their communities as they watched Latinos lead the team to the World Series. Though the team did not triumph their final competitors, the story of the Tigers is still unfolding. The second chapter of their resurrection will be written next season.

Life is like a book.

Each day is a new page, and each significant experience is a new chapter. If our every action and word was recorded with the stroke of a pen, would we be pleased or ashamed? Will you allow a tragic or hopeless chapter in your story to define and reduce the grandeur of your book?

Too often our present-day page becomes a mere facsimile of the previous day’s page. Our lives become so controlled by normality and tradition that we forget to explore new things. As young children, we explore everything. As we age, our inquisitions subside. How can we experience the remaining thrills of life, if we remain in our familiar territories?

To escape our familiar territories, we need not travel the world, but instead discover those things around us. Dare to be different. Eat a new dish or new style of cuisine. Confront your fears. Listen to someone with opposing views. Live life without regret. Slow down because life will bypass you anyways. And lastly, before your pen has made its last stroke, ensure that your story is complete with a moral.

Nevertheless, others should not dictate your life. No story is more tragic than the story of living one’s life to please others. I believe that my deity and savior, God, has created each person with an individual purpose. The outcome of your purpose will be flawed, if others are allowed to tamper with it.

I embrace advice and wisdom, but would rather make mistakes than live life burdened with regret. Family and friends have questioned my motives. I have received suggestions that I should make my aspirations more “attainable.” Or others have said, “stop trying to take on the world, you have a lifetime to do these things.” However, I have not lived up to the climax of my lengthy, adventurous story. It’s only midway through the introduction.

The past cannot be erased. But the future is yet to be written.