It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
~William Henley~
Many feel that fate and destiny mean the same thing. They do not. Fate is a past-oriented viewpoint of that what something has become. Something was fated to become as such and could not have come to be otherwise. Fate as a word is, therefore, used to see that things are expected to unfold in an expect way. Meeting my hubby was fated. On the other hand, destiny is a future-oriented viewpoint; something is destined to happen...unless... It was my destiny to meet my husband. Fate is seen as divinely planned, whereas destiny has the power to be influenced by man’s actions. This is where free will comes in. Confusing, isn't it? Gives you something to think about....and, please, feel free to disagree. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
~William Henley~
These past few days I've been doing a lot of soul searching...a natural result of my participation in the 30 Posts of Truth...and when I look back over my life and the things that I have lived through, it's only natural to wonder why? Why do we suffer? Why do certain things happen to us and not to others? Is it fate, destiny, or free will? Is fate what drew us into our abusive relationship? Was it destiny that brought us together? Or, was it free will? Did we have the choice to make?
Many feel that fate and destiny mean the same thing. They do not. Fate is a past-oriented viewpoint of that what something has become. Something was fated to become as such and could not have come to be otherwise. Fate as a word is, therefore, used to see that things are expected to unfold in an expect way. Meeting my hubby was fated. On the other hand, destiny is a future-oriented viewpoint; something is destined to happen...unless... It was my destiny to meet my husband. Fate is seen as divinely planned, whereas destiny has the power to be influenced by man’s actions. This is where free will comes in. Confusing, isn't it? Gives you something to think about....and, please, feel free to disagree. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I am rather glad I made the decision to take on the Truth project because working on it has really made has made me aware that we are, indeed, all captains of our own soul. Each one of us is the author of our own life story and our destinies change or can be re-written at any time. Our Book of Life is written as we go, and when we use a belief in destiny or fate...and only destiny or fate...as an excuse for not taking responsibility for being the master of our life, we not only end up blaming others for our pain, but also believe it is our destiny to suffer. How well I remember that awful feeling... there is no way out. We end up free-falling into a downward spiral rather than being an active participant in our own lives.
Yes, we do create our own paths...we make choices...we suffer the consequences when we choose wrong, and we reap the rewards should we choose right. We can't lay this at destiny's door...we control our futures, we create our pathways.
Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will. --Jawaharlal Nehru
I like the last quotation by Nehru!
ReplyDeleteI learned something while in the desert - talking to the Indigenous people of Australia.. when asked why about something or other.. there answer: 'it just is'.... I am trying to follow that :)
ReplyDeleteall my life, I have pondered these same things and it has driven me near insane :)
bless always xo R
I'm all for free will.
ReplyDeleteBut then, that thing about where/when one is born... Mmmmmm, that could go a long way toward determining life happenings, I guesss.
Hmmmmmm... More to ponder. :-)
Sadly ....so many of us learn this after the fact.
ReplyDeleteFor some of us it takes longer.
The older I get the less I believe in free will. I think that while our fate can be changed, it is not within our ability to create this change.
ReplyDeleteI believe that, for the most part, what is fated to happen will happen. This is something most people do not want to believe, because then we have to deal with what life hands us -without having any choices!
I think our ancestors were more accepting of this, as they were more affected by the effects of nature, etc., people today are not because we are in a "make it happen" society where it appears that we can make anything happen, and yet - funny - most of us don't manage to so.
Now, you might say, why would I continue to do The Work then? Well because while I may not be able to change my fate I do believe there are other entities who can and I do whatever I can to work with them and see what we can do.
That's just my take on it.