Fate or Free Will: Fight Between Destiny and Choice
Fate or Free Will?
It seems that throughout various stages of my life, this question always seems to come up. Is it destiny that guides us through life, or is it our choices that determine the course of our lives. The philosophic debate between fate or free will has been on going as long as man has existed.
The Argument for Fate
Religion’s View of Fate
Throughout human history, belief systems developed on the idea that there are greater powers in the universe guiding and directing us. All of the major religions of the world base their beliefs on deities that exert some control on the course of human events. There is something within humanity as a whole that draws us toward this idea of all human events being divinely scripted.
Destined Relationships
Some people come in and out of our lives in a way that seems destined to happen. I have had relationships in my life like that. Relationships that one of us needed at that exact time in our lives. Sometimes, the exact person that you need in that moment seems to walk in during the most difficult time in your life. Sometimes those relationships last a lifetime, but many times they end when that phase in your life is over. It can feel like there is no other explanation but fate.
Divine Intervention
There are also those moments that seem destined to happen. Moments where fate intervenes to bring about unbelievable good fortune. I feel like my career has been full of these. My first information technology administrator position came about because I was in the right place at the right time, as my then-girlfriend/now-wife’s mother reported to the hiring manager for that position. My current job also seemed destined, as around the same time that I was laid off from my last job, my current position suddenly became available.
There are also those near miss moments in life. Those times when you are running late for work only to find that if you had been on time, you would have ended up in a horrible accident. One instance of this that comes to my mind is the story of Seth MacFarlane missing his flight from Boston to Los Angeles on September 11th, 2001. The flight that he missed? American Airlines flight 11, the plane flown by terrorists into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
The Argument for Choice
Free Will and Religion
As much as religion has been based on destiny, it has also been based on free will. Much of what has been taught in all religions throughout history is that it is our choices that determine our destiny. All of our modern-day religions teach that it is our choices that determine what happens to us, not just in this life, but the next as well.
Our Choices in Relationships
People enter and exit our lives all of the time. The interactions that we have with each other, that is all up to us. We choose the people who we keep in our lives. Yes, sometimes there is a spark, a chemistry between two people that is undeniable. We still have the choice on whether or not to act on it.
Conscious Effort and Serendipity
Even though a lot in my career seems to have been guided by some force of destiny, a lot of it was based on my own decisions. If I hadn’t actively sought IT jobs in the education sector, I would not have ended up where I currently work. If not for my education, I would not have had a chance to apply for my previous job.
When Seth MacFarlane missed his flight on September 11th, he didn’t see his near miss as some sort of destined event. He saw it as yet another time out of many times in his life before and since that he has missed a flight. It was merely coincidence that he didn’t die that day.
Maybe It’s Both
I don’t know if Momma was right or if, if it’s Lieutenant Dan. I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it’s both. Maybe both is happening at the same time.
— Forrest Gump, Forrest Gump
I think that Forrest is right. I think that part of our lives are guided by destiny, but that our choices, the decisions that we make based on that information, is what makes all of the difference. Our choices and the choices of everyone around us create this seemingly accidental breeze that is in the flow of life. Even not making a choice is itself a choice to “let fate decide” what will happen. Fate brings choices into our lives daily. We make our own destiny with how we handle what life throws at us.
Housekeeping: There is a new poem over at Songs From the Raven’s Nest. Be sure to check out Releasing the Writer’s Soul.
Teaser: Come back next week when we take a look at change from different points of view.
Wayne Cochran