The word dictator often brings to mind people like Stalin, Hitler, or Sadam. When I hear the word (dictator), people like Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, or my dad also come to mind. According to The American Heritage Dictionary: of the English Language: High-School Edition the word dictator is one who dictates, and to dictate is to prescribe expressly and with authority, that is just what these men and women do (366). They dictate the path their lives take with an iron fist, but no-one needs to be a billionaire or all-powerful to have control over their lives. I feel that anyone can rule like a dictator over his or her life. The best part is, all you need to be a dictator over your life is to make choices for yourself and to not let others make them for you.
When someone gives advice to a dictator, the dictator can choose whether to take it or ignore it. Dictators never let anyone push them into anything they don’t want, and every one of us should be the same. When one’s boss, family, friends, or parents ask something of him or her, the choice is ultimately that persons whether to do it or not. If he or she does not like the idea, that person should just say no. Every day I hear people complaining about how they let someone convince them to do this or that. I watch as people get pushed into doing things they don’t want to do. And it saddens me because they could easily say no, and be done with so much pain.
There was a time when I never cared about making choices for myself, and I would let people make them for me. For example my mother and I would go shopping for clothes, and she would show me tens of different nice shirts or pants that I could have, but I could never make a decision. I would stand there with a dumb-founded face. It wasn’t that I couldn’t choose which shoe was better; rather, it was that I didn’t care. I always let her choose. It wasn’t just the shoes or any other article of clothing she chose for me, it was the fact that this was happening with me all the time everywhere. From friends to family, I would let them chose what I would do and how I should think, and I never cared. I felt like I was letting them chose who I was, and what I will experience. Finally my mom intervened. She forced me to make choices whether it mattered or not. Soon my interactions with her branched out. I was now choosing what I wanted and saying no to friends and family alike. It was as though I was now finally defining myself how I wanted to be, instead of letting others do it for me.
I am my own dictator of my life, and I would have it no other way.