Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley
Of all the messages of all the romances, the above probably represents the most powerful. It is the one I most aim to put into every one of my books. No matter whether the characters start out with pathos and a feeling of weakness, the purpose of what they experience in the book is that they will reach beyond and come to that place where they do feel they are the captain of their fate.When they are there, when they take charge in all ways, the romance novel usually ends, and their real life work begins.
It is the goal of our lifetime also. We might start out at the mercy of parents, of guardians but that's not where we want to stay. We grow and we learn. We take charge. We then begin the path of life for wherever we hoped to go. Sometimes we compromise because we face reality, but we make the decisions for ourselves and blame no one else. When we take on the choice of raising children, we teach them the same way for being responsible. It's what the bulk of our life will be about.
Finally, we want to live our lives in such a way that when we reach the end times, we will have control-- even if that control means we have given control of our body up to others because of debility, still it will be our choice. I know it can be that way because I saw it with my own elders. I will aim to make it so when I reach that point for my life.
