I don’t really think about having a destiny, or that anything is pre-destined. But it is amazing to me how often I can put a thought out there now and see it realized, seemingly through no action of my own. I have come to believe that the universe does take care of us, if we can trust it to do so. This isn’t so much a metaphysical belief as a Tao realization — by acting in accordance with nature, and with my own nature, I do help create the circumstances for what I want to be able to happen. And it is when I am not in accord with nature, or not listening to my own nature or that of others, that I most struggle to get what I (my ego, that is) want.
So perhaps a truer definition of destiny would be that it is what we find happening in our lives if we simply relax and allow life and our own nature to flow. When I can relax and trust that things will work out well, they typically do. And even if they are not working out well, if I’m relaxed and calm I’m certainly better able to deal with a situation. So, even if the universe isn’t on your side, why not believe that it is? It certainly isn’t out to get you, in any case. And a neutral attitude towards things, rather than a positive one, doesn’t really help to get anyone on your side. So being positive, approaching life as if good things are going to come your way, is not merely a Pollyana state but one that helps to create a better Destiny…
“Your destiny shall not be allotted to you, but you shall choose it for yourselves.” — Plato
I have to agree with Plato here.
“Destiny is something not be to desired and not to be avoided. a mystery not contrary to reason, for it implies that the world, and the course of human history, have meaning.” — Dag Hammarskjold
And Dag, it is good to believe your life has meaning.
“Almost nothing important that ever happens to you happens because you engineer it. Destiny has no beeper; destiny always leans trenchcoated out of an alley with some sort of “Pssst” that you usually can’t even hear because you’re in such a rush to or from something important you’ve tried to engineer.” — David Foster Wallace
I like this because it reminds us to be open to the unexpected, to allow good things into our lives even if we weren’t expecting them. On the other hand, don’t buy watches or jewelry from these people.
“No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever.”
— Francois Muriac
My friendships certainly do leave their marks on me and my life. My loves, even more so. And I still love them all…
“Time draweth wrinkles in a fair face, but addeth fresh colors to a fast friend, which neither heat, nor cold, nor misery, nor place, nor destiny, can alter or diminish.” — John Lyly
I see new colors in my friends all the time, and I mostly ignore the wrinkles. If anything, they add character.
“We plan our lives according to a dream that came to us in our childhood, and we find that life alters our plans. And yet, at the end, from a rare height, we also see that our dream was our fate. It’s just that providence had other ideas as to how we would get there. Destiny plans a different route, or turns the dream around, as if it were a riddle, and fulfills the dream in ways we couldn’t have expected.” — Ben Okri
I don’t think I’ve ever had a straightforward path to my dreams, but they usually end up realized in some way. And I do like solving the riddles of my life…
Your thoughts on destiny???
One Response
This is one of those areas in which I think we, who live in the modern westernized world, need to be a bit careful in our philosophizing. For the most part, if we have a positive outlook and commit to those acts and thoughts that lay the foundation for success, we often find it.
However, in other parts of the world — those with grinding poverty, decades long drought, unending war or other types of human-generated pestilence — having a positive outlook does not always lead to successful outcomes. In many cases, people are held prisoner by circumstances and variables far beyond personal control.
In many such cases, destiny is controlled far more by others, Mother Nature or a toxic combination of the two.