Most people are not really free.

“Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves. They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision.” —V.S. Naipaul

This quote encompasses where I was for much of my life. I can relate to a time when I was a slave to myself and a victim of the world.
Reality is merely a realization of perception. If you change your perceptions, you change your reality. Many people are afraid to fail. Every challenge should be seen as an opportunity to grow as a person. The bigger the challenge, the more you must grow order to overcome it.
I am a firm believer that this life is exactly how you think it is. Whether you think you can or you cannot, you are right. Many people lack fail to see the opportunities in life. They fail to dream. Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever the mind of a man can conceive, and believe, the mind of a man can achieve.” Achievement is rewarded by the persistence and determination to see their dreams into fruition. When people are met with troubles and difficultly they shirk away and discard their visions, no longer feeling adequate for the challenge. Life ebbs and flows with every passing day, and every day we are not living out and striving to see our dreams come true is an opportunity missed.
Vision is monumental. The human mind is powerful beyond belief. It is nothing short of a miracle that men can take an intangible idea, which starts as a seedling of their imagination, and through hard work and persistence, actualize it and create it into being. The ability to create is what sets man apart from all other creatures. If we cannot see what we are creating, how can it be created? If one is running a race, and has never seen the finish line, how will he know when he crosses it? If there is no end destination, how will we know when we arrive? This is vision. Men without vision are lost, buffeted by the seas of life they become discouraged because they know not where they are going.
I have a vision. When I think of the person I am at heart, the person I continually refine myself to be, there is a strong sense of clarity. Every waking day I am met with a clear purpose before me. Each day is a goal in itself and as I progress through life I watch as the vision I laid out before myself years ago becomes more and more tangible. Every book, every challenging undertaking, and every relationship I choose carefully and pursue with excellence so that I may exemplify and uncover the potential hidden within me.