Fate and Destiny:

Can We Decide Our Fate and Destiny?

Fate and destiny - they seem to be synonyms up to a certain point. Questions always arise when one or the other is mentioned. Can we rebel against our own destiny? Can we truly decide the path we want to take in life?

These are questions with no definite or final answer. Nevertheless, everything depends on our determination, our strength to defeat the obstacles we meet on our life's journey.

A lot of successful and driven people in many varied fields confess that fate seems to be against them at the launch of their career. Most of them lived completely different lives before they achieved success, and they are proud to remember those times. It was hard, many successful folks say, but nothing could have held them back as they strove to the best. They also admit that they never dared dream they would be so famous or successful.

All these facts make us wonder whether an apparently pre-established fate can be modified or completely changed. And if we indeed can change fate, how can we demonstrate what we're capable of? Could there be a way to modify the data, which composes the abstract book of life, just as easy as correcting something on a computer? And if that holds true, how do we know that there wasn't a mistake in the first place, and our determination does not do more than merely correct it?

These thoughts and ideas represent suppositions. Nevertheless, since many different people offer testimonies that their lives have changed, this increases our confidence that we can do it too. If we can't control our destiny, we can, at least, contribute to what's happening to us during our everyday existence.

Let's quickly look at the idea of karma concerning fate and destiny. If we treat others the right way, if we are always honest and always mind the truth, perjaps bad fate will go around us, showing us that we can make our own destiny.

On the other hand, we cannot help wondering about the converse. What happens to a person who starts off with a wonderful destiny, but during his or her life commits a series of unpardonable mistakes. Will that destiny change?

Could it be true that we actually get the destiny we deserve? People who suffer tremendously for having lost somebody dear to them or people born with a disease or a handicap will answer with a resounding no. There are a lot of good people in pain, so the theory that we get what we deserve is not always accurate. But what if we have to pay for the errors others committed? Would that make us think deeper before carrying out something we are not really proud of, fearing that some innocent person will pay, in the future, for our actions of the present?

There is no doubt that opinions are split when it comes to such a subject. However, meditating on these kinds of themes help us understand ourselves better and, hopefully, get us closer to appreciating our fate and destiny.
