Doug Wallace: Inspirational Stories of Childhood Poverty

“Do you believe in destiny or free will,” I asked my wife.

“Well,” she replied. “If you were meant to be shot, then you will never have to worry about drowning.”

“Thought provoking response,”  I amused, but I couldn’t help wondering what about those babies born into poverty? Where they meant to endure hunger, violence, deprivation and inequality as their destiny based solely upon the fact that they were born into poverty?

Of course not—every child born in America should have an equal opportunity for a better life.

Belief in fate and destiny are major tenets of my belief system. I believe this is the key reason that I was able to escape the cycle of poverty which had a stranglehold on four generations of my family.

Choice is seldom considered as a quality alternative to changing the course of one’s future in the poverty culture.

Otherwise, why would crime rates be higher in poverty neighborhoods, and why would so many generations remain stuck in the endless cycle of poverty? This certainly was true for my ancestors and many of my siblings?

Many folks seem to wait to be “discovered,” or to win the lottery, or find that one big quick solution that will bring on instant success. 

They fail because they are looking for immediate gratification rather than suffering the challenges that require life planning skills and better choices in the present. Sadly, making good choices is not a common behavior in the culture of poverty.

There’s always a crisis that must be dealt with in the present, and the tomorrows look a whole lot like the yesterdays. At least that was the way it was in my family.

A person’s faith in destiny can be so powerful, even if they live in a culture of poverty, that it postively influences the choices they make–that which we call our free will. 

My experience is that faith in destiny can powerfully influence the choices we make. In other words, our faith in destiny helps overcome the disappointments and setbacks that are inevitable in life, but more so for the poor.

I believe that destiny and free will are both irreversibly and mystifyingly so intertwined, such that destiny influences free will as mightedly as free will influences destiny?

Back to my wife’s point, a person who jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge will indeed drown, and most certainly will not have to worry about being shot.

Let’s take this argument back to the subject of upward social mobility. If a person were to be born into poverty, will they be destined to remain in poverty? 

As mentioned above, I was able to escape the cycle of poverty, and I did indeed travel through all social classes, from the lowest of poverty to achieve financial independence?

So what separated me from my forefathers?

The answer, I believe, is that I believed in my destiny, that everything will be all right, no matter how complicated things got, and no matter the seriousness of the many setbacks I encountered during my life journey.

I must confess, however, that I have met many individuals in my life, who express great confidence in destiny, but failed miserably in their present and future choices.

However, it is also my experience that such people failed, not because they truly believed in destiny, but because they were merely engaging in self-aggrandizing?

My wife queried more deeply with a personal question: “Could you have made it out of poverty if you did not truly believe in your destiny?”

My first thought, was, Who knows where the winds of change will take us and when the chance encounters and outside influences will change the course of our lives forever? I knew there was no decisive answer–at least I couldn’t think of one without appealing to a Higher Power, a Devine influence.

”Well,”I put forward, ”I’ll have to quote my Aunt Bertha to answer that question.”Reading an excerpt from my book, Everything Will Be All Right, I responded with my own non-answer, “Whatever happens was meant to happen. Never question the ways of the Lord.”

“Exactly” responded my wife.”