Is Destiny a Predefined Directive or a Matter of Choice?
Over the past couple of days I came across several quotes from some great men who were also supposed to be learned men. The fact that most of them had pretty much the same thing to say and which needs to be stated in a few lines would be, ‘Destiny is what comes along with your existence. Irrespective of what you do, irrespective of what you avoid, everything that happens is destined to happen.’
Even though at first this does appear to be the way things function in our reality, who knows what the very next moment will have in store for us, and perhaps this post as well. I am destined to write a post on destiny but the thing that I certainly fail to understand about our existence is the fact that in a world where nothing is permanent (as a great man once said, ‘Change is the only thing constant in this world’) how can the destiny of a person be a predefined directive, a predefined path that he or she is supposed to follow?
The First Level of Destiny Is Anatomy!
Now, destiny might also function at various levels and the very first level has been stated by Sigmund Freud in his three-word quote “Anatomy is destiny.” Now nothing can beat the trueness of those three words. The way you are built, a human or a dog is the very first level of destiny. We can call that destiny for that’s something we don’t have any control over. The way we are made is our first level of destiny and I do believe none of you would have a problem in agreeing to that. Your job would be to load stuff on your back and travel miles or be a man’s best friend or be a man, it all depends on the first level of destiny.
The Second Level of Destiny is the Family We Are Born into
Now, if one comes to think of it, the second level of destiny would be about your mentality, the way you think and the way you perceive things. Most of us are lucky enough to have seen a family and the way we think, the way we behave, and all the etiquettes that we imbibe. Everything that we learn in our early days, which in some way shapes the way we are going to think and act throughout our lives would depend on the kind of family we are born into. I am not necessarily saying that some will have the right kind of upbringing and some won’t. There is nothing necessarily right or wrong it is all about your perception towards things that makes things right and wrong in your head. So the second level of destiny would be the family you are born in and you certainly don’t have control over that either.
Destiny, a Matter of Choice!
Now, the third level of destiny, which I fail to pick up, is about what you are going to do throughout your life. The fact that the way you are born, the family you are born in, and the etiquettes that you imbibe all are part of your destiny doesn’t mean everything after that is too. In a world where change is the only constant, how can someone’s destiny, apart from the above-defined first two levels, be constant? It certainly has to be relative and subject to change just like everything else. To me, destiny is more about the choices you make. Once you are born as a human, have already learned the basics of living and have a brain that is good enough to think, the choices you make and the path you lead aren’t necessarily shown by your destiny. Destiny presents you with choices. Which path you choose entirely depends on you. All of us in our lives have come across situations where we are supposed to make decisions which, in some way, change or shape our future. Destiny is not what makes you choose the path but it presents you with choices. Consider destiny to be functioning on a single person in two parallel universes and, depending on the choice you make when you are presented with the options, you choose the universe you are going to be in. Of course, making choices isn’t a one-time thing, and you do it many times throughout your life, but every time you do, other than shaping your life, you are shaping your destiny too! Destiny certainly is relative and depends on the choices you make! Of course, you might fail several times. Of course, you might regret decisions that you make, but you certainly don’t have the right to blame it on destiny.
At the first two levels, destiny is all about a predefined directive while everything that happens beyond those two levels entirely depends on the choices that you make throughout your lifetime. So next time you have to make a choice, choose wisely and give shape to your destiny!
