Life hands you opportunities everyday, and we have the choice to accept it or deny it. When it comes to opportunities deciding whether you're going to do something or not, the thought "if you don't reach your hand out at that moment, there won't be a next time" runs through your mind. Opportunities may seem like a thing to always accept, but there's always something holding you back, and it's the fear of the opportunity not resulting in the way you want it to. In the poem "A Coney Island Life" by James L. Weil, it is telling us that we should take advantage of the opportunities that come to us because our goals and dreams aren't achieved through doing nothing. He makes it focus on what life will take us to if we had no courage to attempt anything, and that it's better have regrets after doing something, rather than not doing anything and regretting it, but also the fact that it doesn't always go as expected.
Every single person's lives does not run smoothly. There are times when it does run smoothly but most of the time it goes through an obstacle every now and then. In Weil's poem, he mentions, "On roller coaster ups and downs". In this line, Weil explains life for everyone in general. We're all on the same roller coaster that's filled with opportunities that will go through difficulties and achievements. Everyone has a point where they're at the highest at accomplishing their goals and dreams, and a point where they're at the lowest at reaching goals. After that line, he then states, "And seen my helium hopes break skyward without me". It refers to the difficulties and achievements he has made in his lifetime and the times when his hopes and dreams weren't considered achievable. This part of the poem makes you realize that you may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. From that point of the poem until the end it, clearly states that once his "big dream" didn't go the way he wanted, all of his achievements went to the back of his head as if it didn't matter anymore. These two lines that were mentioned somewhat relates in a close matter. They both focus on having to work for the opportunities that come to you and to work for what you want that opportunity to result in, no matter any sudden circumstances. But these two lines reminds us to also keep in mind that things don't always go the way you expect them to. It also helps us to realize that we have power over our mind and tasks, not outside events, and that you can't really wish for an easy life, but to have strength to endure a difficult one in order to make that opportunity worth something.
Whenever there's a goal, it's obvious that we have to work for it. Weil states, "Now arms filled with dolls I threw so much for" Weil refers this to working incredibly hard at your goal, and unfortunately not reaching it. We all have the mindset full of expectations waiting to happen, and the only way for the "expectations" to happen, we have to make it happen. We all work hard for something we truly want to achieve or have, and we all would get deeply devastated if it doesn't go out well. And because of his lost hopes and dreams, Weil then states, "I take perhaps my last ride on this planet-carousel", meaning that he was planning to completely give up on his dreams because his failures got the best of him. At times, failures can be big enough to convince you that you can no longer achieve anything you set your mind to. The reason why people give up so fast is because they tend to look how far they still have to go, instead of how far they have gotten. We are all confined by walls we build ourselves, only our words matter, so if you say to yourself that you think you can no longer achieve something, you're obviously going to believe yourself. This line refers to everyone, because everybody comes to a point in their life when they want to quit, but it's that actions you do at that moment that determines your future and the outcome of the opportunity you took.
At the very end of his poem, Weil then states, "How many more times round I have to catch that brass-ring-sun before the game is up". This is the main line that has to be focused on, because throughout the poem he's been stating all the troubles he's been through, and this line clearly explains that even though his difficulties were big, he was still planning achieve his goal and dreams. This helps us to train ourselves to put our hopes and dreams as a bigger image in our mind, and to forget all the reasons why our goals wouldn't work and believe the one reason why it will. Being paralyzed by the fear of failure influences us to discard the fate of opportunities that come to us. Weil's poem greatly shapes us to never let the mistakes and disappointments of the past control and direct your future. Regret is always the outcome of every opportunity, dream, hope, and goal that you throw away and give up on. Our choices upon working for our opportunities should not reflect our fears, but our ambitions. Only you have the power to bring yourself to where you want to be later. Every achievement we have accomplished was not by a matter of chance, but the matter of choice -- the choice to either continue working for goals or to give up on our goals. Our dreams aren't something to be waited for, but to be achieved through our opportunities.
No comments:
Post a Comment