Do you believe in destiny?
I do.
Fate, destiny, fortune. It has many disguises but its essence is still the same. All you have to do is a Define: search on Google and you will get an array of responses (define: destiny):
Destiny: an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
Fortune: your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you); “whatever my fortune may be”; “deserved a better fate”; “has a happy lot”; “the luck of the Irish”; “a victim of circumstances”; “success that was her portion”
Regardless of which definition you subscribe to, if you believe in destiny, then you must be of the mindset that everything happens for a reason. And if you are of this mindset, then you also believe that there is no such thing as coincidence.
Your mind is blown, so let that sink in for a minute.
Our choices and mistakes are what make our destiny and chart the course of our lives. We all know that hindsight is 20/20, which is why they call it “hind” sight. How many of us waste time on “coulda, woulda, shoulda” each and every day when faced with adversity. When good things happen, when we are happy and successful, healthy and in love, we don’t question the choices or mistakes we made that brought us to this good place.
We are living in the moment.
When we are faced with adversity, sickness and heartbreak, the questions we ask are relentless and self-deprecating.
The thing about Destiny is that we have no idea of knowing what that means for each of us. I cannot change my destiny because I have no idea what it is. Sometimes we are able to recognize a pattern in our lives that seem to dictate what life’s end game may be, and I question it all the time. I have learned the hard way that destiny has a funny way of playing tricks on you, and just when you think you can see what’s at the end of the path, where you will end up, you come to a corner that you never expected, an obstacle that you must overcome.
Destiny.
Lately, I have been doing my best to try to live in the moment. Now, I don’t mean by being an irresponsible flake, but instead by trying not to focus on the past or predict the future. All I can do is get up each day, be thankful that I am healthy, have a roof over my head, have food in the fridge to nourish me, and am blessed with the love of friends and family that will never let me down; try to let go of the people that have hurt and disappointed me. Today could be all I have – all any of us has – and the best laid plans for tomorrow could be shot down in flames in an instant. Regardless of whether we veer off course, zig when we should’ve zagged, we will all inevitably fulfill our destiny. Some people seem to think they have it figured out, but you can’t change a future that hasn’t happened yet.
Every circumstance in life offers us the opportunity to learn something, even from the most dire of circumstances. You don’t always see it right away, and I can certainly attest to this as many of us can, but with each circumstance, we learn something about who we are and what we are capable of. Sometimes it surprises us. Sometimes its something we wish we had never learned, but our life lessons shape who we are and where we are going.
The answers aren’t always obvious, and there are some that will never come no matter how badly we want them.
Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him. ~ Henry Miller ~
