running (muddy trails) 1:06:00 [2] 7.7 mi (8:34 / mi) +118ft 8:27 / mi
ahr:129 max:144 shoes: VJ Sticky
My own actions are a result of my own free will. For example, I run and do physics because I want to, not because I have to. At the same time, the actions of people who have power over me are not a result of their free will. For example, one of my roommates is leaving to pursue the job that he is being offered, another is leaving for the sort of specific social interaction that he needs on a regular basis; my advisor didn't hire me as a research assistant this year because he's had bad experiences hiring first year graduate students in the past.
These thought processes are not in conflict with each other. Rather, in practice, they reinforce each other: thinking of my own actions as a result of my own free will helps me see the ways in which other people's actions are a result of circumstances external to them. Thinking of the ways in which other people are driven by external circumstances helps me think of the choices I have in my own actions.