The first thing you need to understand is that influence and affect are not the same as control. Ending up somewhere unintentionally does not defy the existence of free will. Free will is not free-get-whatever-you-wish-for. The truth is that we have control over what we do but not over what happens. What you seem to be talking about is sheer force of will, where your will turns into your reality. That is not how humans work. If the firing of neurons controls us, what controls the firing of the neurons in the first place? Free will is very much real, you just need to understand what will really is. It is not an ability to control situations or realities we find ourselves in, it is the ability to control our actions inside whatever reality or situation we find ourselves in. The world does not revolve around us.