Time to Choose Your Own Adventure

As a child, I was a bit of a handful and – 2/3 cups of hyperactivity, 3 tablespoons of mischievousness, a dash of curiosity, salt, pepper, and some lemon zest (of course). Whenever I became too much to handle, my parents would drive me to the library to ‘decompress’. On most occasions, I had no intention of going to the library; but, of as the case for all children, your parents have full and absolute authority. Whenever my parents would drop me off, they left me under the condition that I leave with at least 5 books to take home. This was to ensure that I was actually productive during my library stay.

As I meandered my way through aisles and bookshelves, I discovered works of Greek mythology, Asimov, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien to name a few. I also came across the underrated and under-appreciated ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ series. When I came to the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series, it was the typical case of moth to light. If you have not come across this series in you youth, here is the wikipedia breakdown the series.

Choose Your Own Adventure is a series of children’s gamebooks first published by Bantam Books from 1979-1998 and currently being re-published by Chooseco. Each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character’s actions in response to the plot and its outcome. Choose Your Own Adventure was one of the most popular children’s series during the 1980s and 1990s, selling over 250 million copies between 1979 and 1998,[1][2] and translated into at least 38 languages.[1]

After an introduction to the story, the reader is asked to determine the protagonist’s next course of action. For instance, the first decision offered in The Cave of Time is:
If you decide to start back home, turn to page 4.
If you decide to wait, turn to page 5.

After the reader makes a choice, the plot branches out and unfolds, leading to more decisions and eventually multiple possible endings.

The types of endings that the books featured include:
At least one, but often several, endings depicting a highly desired resolution, often involving uncovering a handsome monetary reward.
Endings that result in the death of the protagonist, companions of the main character or both, or other very negative endings, because of a fatal choice of the reader.
Other endings that may be either satisfactory (but not the most desired ending) or unsatisfactory (but not totally bad).
Occasionally a particular set of choices will throw the reader into a loop where they repeatedly reach the same page (often with a reference to the situation being familiar). At this point the reader’s only option is to restart the adventure.
One book, Inside UFO 54-40, revolved around the search for a paradise that no one can actively reach; one of the pages in the book describes the player finding the paradise and living happily ever after, although none of the choices in the book led to that page. The ending could only be found by disregarding the rules and going through the book at random. Upon finding the ending, the reader is congratulated for realizing how to find paradise. Although it appears that this ending is not actually mistake but was actually designed that way, and thus makes the book into a Moral Story stating that if you think outside the box, and do not blindly follow the rules then you’ll achieve Paradise.

Early books occasionally allowed the player to decide things about the universe, such as whether the unknown person knocking at the door would be funny or scary, but later books only allowed the player to choose his or her own actions.

With each book in the series, I could be a ninja, an adventurer, a detective, anyone. I enjoyed the fact that books existed where more than one outcome was possible. I relished reading these books as a child because destiny did not play a factor as much as free will. As all other books ended with one outcome, I could choose many outcomes based upon my own decisions. Just this morning, I came across these doctored covers from the series, and I had to laugh to myself.

Yet, as the day progressed, my thoughts began to ponder the idea of choices and free will. At times, I feel like I am caught in a vise when I think of work. I wish to come in contact with the world, different cultures, creative people, humanitarians, individuals living out their passions and life’s work. I did not realize till now that I have been surrounded by individuals that always wish to remind me that the options are few and far between because of constraints, rules, regulations, practicality or simply because that is how “things have alway been and they are not going to change”. That revelation frightened me the core. Those types of beliefs can be toxic to one that has always held on to particular dreams. I like to believe that all of us have the capacity of free will to change not only ourselves but the world around us.

I think it’s imperative to feel that we have free will in our lives. Once many of us reach adulthood, we feel stifled by the current conditions in or lives. We’ve become cynical of the human condition. Some of us may feel trapped by our past decisions whether that be decisions made regarding our occupations, relationships, education, and simply life. I understand that some choices are irreversible, but one must choose a new path and not let the decisions of the past bind you. How did we reach a point where we moved from freedom to constraint, the infinite to the limited, positive to negative? What disconnect occurs in our lives to bring us to this point. In my time in New York, I have come across many people my age and older that have become cynical about the possibilities of life. They ‘live’ a life without hope. They ‘live’ a life without vision. My parents always told me that sometimes that you “must suffer to gain”. It may take an effort of pure will to pull yourself out of the quicksand of mediocrity and stagnation, but it is possible. Sometimes you need support, but there are times in which all the strength you need remains hidden from within.

Some of the workspaces that we find ourselves today are not conducive to a healthy spirit. We sit or stand several hours at a time when we should be in motion. We exist within the walls of a cubicle when there should be no walls. Our minds stagnate. Our spirits falter. We’ve become a culture that lives for the weekend. We sleepwalk through Monday and Friday in order to find a quick respite in those two days at the end of the week only to start the process again on Monday. We live paycheck to paycheck not only in spirit but in vision. We do not find fulfillment in the work that we do only in the paycheck that we receive. I know that there are many out there that are searching for a job – any job. I’ve been in that precarious position myself years ago when I first moved to New York. Before moving here, I applied for numerous positions in New York while I remained in Texas. It soon became apparent that employers overlooked me because of the fact that I wasn’t a local candidate. So, I made the conscious decision to move to New York a day after my brother’s birthday in 2005. I decided that I would crash with an old college buddy in New Jersey until I was able to put my feet to the cement. In my search for work, I worked a number of odd jobs. I worked at a Manhattan Bistro, a graphic design firm, The Columbia University Bookstore, and a temp for the NYC government. In position that I found, I was thankful for work but still discontent. Yes, it was a means to survives, but was it towards the proper end? Work should bring more into your life than a living wage; it should nourish the spirit.

In my time in Broooklyn, I’ve come across individuals that have been out of work for quite some time. They’ve grown tired of the cover letters and resumes that garner no response. Without anyone or anything to fall back on, you only have yourself. After some time, I’ve noticed these individuals focusing of aspects in their lives that would bring fulfillment into their lives. Yes, the bills have to be paid; but, If you were in that situation, what projects would you immerse yourself into if left to your own devices? Would you start a band? Write a novel? Write that screenplay that you have been talking about for years. Open a online store from home? Start your own non-profit? What would you do? What adventure would you begin? One should not settle for a ‘job’. One should strive for their life’s work – place where one’s passions line the way. You may say to yourself that I always wanted to be a writer, an artist, a producer, a whatever…but I will be bad at it. You have to try. You have to learn. If the mastery of such skills will bring you fulfillment, this is the path you must follow. Most adventures are not easily charted out. The most entertaining adventures are not only the obstacles but the means in which these obstacles or overcome. Do not feel stifled by the obstacles that lay before you, you have to sometimes fight for the life that you wish to lead. You must come to this life on your own two feet. You have a choice.