‘Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be’ John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Destiny, Fate, whatever u may call it all relate to the idea that what happens to us in this life is predetermined and inescapble. Depending on your point of view it would be sad to think that we are mere robots who are unable to deviate one iota from our fixed pathway. If we have no Will, we as individuals do not really exist.
We come across numerous occasions each day where we are called upon to make ‘decisions’. The problem is that as mortals, time appears as ever flowing and unidirectional. So once we’ve made a descision and acted upon it, it seems that things couldn’t have turned out any other way. Even if we are captains of our own ships we still have no control over the forces of Nature or other ships we share the oceans with. Not that we don’t have Free Will, we do , but it’s a limited freedom. We can make choices, but those choices operate against a backdrop of circumstance over which we are powerless. And it is these externalities which we call destiny or fate.
Providence is the idea that God, or Spirit, will somehow take care of our earthly needs. It is surprising how often in troubled times the solution unexpectedly appears. This is evidence that we are part of some greater, mostly unperceived, reality; an intelligent design.
But we should not use providence as an excuse to renounce responsibility otherwise we obviate the need for our earthly existence. We must still use our Will to the best of our ability and sometimes fate will lend a helping hand.
The concept of luck is born of comparison with others. It is true that we are all born into different conditions, with different talents and other qualities. Therefore our experiences will differ vastly in nature and desirability. No two lives are alike. We all tread a different path, and – believe it or not – we all chose the lessons we would learn along ours. We should not be envious of the fortunes of others, instead we should focus on making the best of our own particular path in the knowledge that we tread it for good reason.
The paradox of significance begins with the recognition of the utter insignificance of a single man in comparison with the totality of the universe. Yet Every act of Will somehow alters what would otherwise have been, ultimately and forever. A simple “good morning” or friendly glance might be enough to inspire a person to success. And in the course of their work they may go on to touch many other souls. And all because of one simple, costless action.
This was my topic for my Spanish writing class. At first I couldn’t come up with one good answer if we control our destiny or our destiny controls us? but in my quest for an answer I realized there is no such thing. Some believe that there is a high force; the creator of destiny itself, that can change destiny. Other say that destiny is pre-ordained. Like for example we are already given this size of empty bucket to fill, we make our destiny on where we go and how much and what kind to fill it. No matter how little you put in it, it might make a difference. Then again maybe….both happens but in different ways like our destiny controls our parent we don’t choose them but we control our destiny like believing in God.
I think that Destiny is real, but it is not something you should delve into…The Sun is a great thing to behold but stare at it too long and you will go blind
If destiny controls us , then are our prayers useless ?
If we control destiny , would it be destiny anymore ?
The questions remain….
We must admit that certain aspects of ourselves we cannot control, such as the regulation of hormones in our bloodstream, growth of hair etc… These aspects which we defiantly have no control we shall call instinct. Our consciousness however is the basis for the actions which we consider to not be instinct. We have to make decisions at certain times which will effect our future, or if you prefer destiny. If we have no control of our future then in fact these decisions we make must be some, complicated, form of instinct.
Now instinct we can consider as how our structure changes given alterations in our environment or ourselves. Using this we can see that if two alterations in our environment are similar the action produced by instinct will be similar.
Now the beauty of consciousness is it allows us to perform actions which may be drastically different given two similar alterations. In this sense we no longer rely on our inbuilt instinct to dictate our future. We can make decisions that appear completely irrational and go against all forms of instinct, e.g. suicide. Because of this i believe that we do have control of our future. Any entity that can display some form of consciousness has control over aspects of its future.
That’s what i think….
Woahh….some people really think it through =s
yes I must say Hind and Nadira do have good points; but my post was a random thought and now that you posed these issues I would just like that to say, not matter what free will one has, God gives you choices, He knows which one you will pick and He knows where you will end up. Even if you decide to jump off the roof He gives you the option not to; but He knows you will do it anyways and that is were it becomes your destiny. The whole point is that there is an Intelligent Design that has already been laid out and it goes as its own course without people even noticing. We are a part of that Intelligent design and therefore go through a series of things in order to fulfill the Destiny of that Design.
All these answers are really remarkable…
. I understand where you are heading Megan, but all I’d like to add is:
I have never heard of “intelligent design” before, but im glad to know a little more about it now (i looked it up on Wikipedia)
For me, i don’t accept the idea that i am not in control of my own destiny – there is no contradiction between destiny and choice – destiny’s path is set, yet the way you walk it is free.
I see one limitation to choice – the direction of the path, which is ‘towards quality’.
Destiny is to walk that path and when you see destiny as vague as “towards Quality” you can only go wrong by choosing to, or having no choice allowed you.
Some of those who see the path call it -”the Way” some call the path “Tao” and the walk “Te” most people just go through ‘life’, Ignorance of that path will make your walk less effective but no less real. Even without understanding, improvement is unavoidable; everything gets better!
Our destiny is to be better, our freedom is to chose how
Peace and love~
Mya you actually freaking me out ^^ but I have to say good discussion. I remember when we were talking about it at the IC a few weeks ago…everyone had their own opinion about it. That’s actually why we like talking about it hehe
For me, each step you take in life changes your history.
And the steps the alternative steps that you did not take also would have made another history. So your destiny is in your hands, and you are the only one that can make things happen..