[ WP ] You get a 3 year day summary book for Christmas and each day for the next year you write a summary . The following year , you go to the front and begin to fill out the second entry for Jan 1st and realise the third entry has already been filled out , as well as half of the rest of the third year .

July 9th 
 
 A few months ago, when I opened my journal to write on the first day of the year, I realized that the next year was already written out. No one even knew about the journal, so I knew it could not be a prank. Who would prank a lonely introvert? Soon I realized, that I was staring at my future. My hollow life of loneliness would end with me hanging from the ceiling fan a day right before my next birthday. After that realization, my life took a turn for the worse. I started skipping work until I was fired. I began avoiding family and friends. What would I say? I spent my days reading the journal and drinking away my life. What was there to live for, when I knew how it would end? 
 
 A month ago, while reading through next year's journal entries, I also read the entries from last year. I'm not sure why I did that, but I noticed a pattern. I did n't see it before, but it was a slippery slope of events. Bad habits begot bad habits and the cycle continued. It seemed like the journal was showing me where the the current path would lead me to, if I continued to stay on it. But instead of running away from it, I started running full speed on it. 
 
 It was then that I realized what I had been doing these past few months. I read that I was an alcoholic next year, so I picked up drinking and became one. I was fulfilling the prophecy in a self-fulfilling kind of way. But it was time for me to change. With that in mind, I started changing my habits one by one. I got out of the house for the first time in months and ate a fresh meal. Later in the day, I rewrote my resume and applied to several companies for a job. But no one wants to hire an engineer who was fired for shirking his responsibilities. After three weeks of searching, I got a job at a burger joint. This will do for now, until I'm ready or more. Last Sunday, I went on a hike for the first time since I left school and the fresh air lifted my spirits up. 
 
 I have n't written anything in the journal for months, because I did n't have anything to say. My life was as empty as the blank pages of this year. I do n't know if these changes make any difference to the future that is already written for me. But it makes me feel more alive than I have felt in a long time. And when I leave this journal behind for my family I need them to know I lived a good life, before things got bad. 
 
 **** 
 
 With his entry written, out of habit Jason flipped the journal to next year. He was n't sure if it was his imagination, but the ink spread out. The page was dry, but the ink continued to spread until it looked like a giant blot, and then slowly reformed words. They were different this time -- nothing concrete yet, but they did n't speak about the end of days anymore. Satisfied, he went to bed with a final thought. `` My future may be written down for me, but it is not set in stone. It can be anything I want.''
