Future, Who writes it? You or the stars?

The birthplace of Jane and Benjamin Franklin.
Jane would live here for most of her life while
Benjamin would leave to pursue his apprenticeship.
(brainpickings.org)

Heard a podcast recently on one of the American founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. As is well known, he emerged from a humble beginning, of a son of a poor candle and soap maker, to propel himself away from the clutches of poverty, to pull himself up with his boots strap even though he could not afford boots. Benjamin, a polymath, later became a printer, a master inventor, a diplomat, established the mail service and had a hand in drafting the Declaration of Independence.

He was self-taught. Together with his favourite sister, Jenny (out of 16 other siblings), they used to teach each other. Then, Benjamin left his home to work in a printing press run by his brother by a twist of fate. One thing led to another, and he left the job. He later managed to establish himself as a printer. In his printing company, he took many government contracts, including printing notes. In those days, paper was made from rags. Franklin used to advertise in his newspaper for rags for his mill. The rags eventually were made into money, enriching him tremendously. This ultimately coined the phrase 'rag to riches', which we still use today.

Jenny was not as lucky as her brother. Married at 15 to an older man who was a slave to the bottle and an underachiever, her world revolved around being her nanny to the result of her 22 pregnancies, keeping the family afloat amidst her husband's numerous failed business ventures. Nevertheless, Jenny and Benny continued corresponding over the years.

Two siblings started on the same footing, but both ended up in different ends of society. In one of the letters, Jenny mentioned, many things in life are beyond our control. Things just happen.

We may think we have it all covered. Nothing can go wrong. There are Plan B and even Plan C. Just when you think it is going to be alright, bam, it hit you. Things beyond your control hit you in your face, catching you off-guard. Murphy's law shows your fallibility and puts you in your rightful place. Embark Peter's Law, find your right footing.