What will be, will be
We walk through life not knowing what would’ve been if we had taken the other path or made the other choice. And we find comfort in dismissing it as destiny.
Through time, destiny has become inseparable from religion, spiritualism and in the bigger picture, life. Objectively though, it seems to be yet another measure to give order to all the chaos in the world. It helps, the way the it helps to have hope and faith, to believe in something bigger than ourselves and our circumstances, to even surrender in the name of a bigger plan for our life. Chances are that those are the very elements that make our ‘destiny’.
Destiny is often intertwined with fate, and somewhere along the way, the two meet astrology. Astrologers claim to be able to predict our destiny, and sub-consciously, we are inclined to believe them. In fact, sunsigns, zodiacs and horoscopes have exerted more than their fair share of influence on people by becoming self-fulfilling prophecies.
I can’t say if it’s a factor of age or experience, but at some point, surrendering to destiny or fate or whatever it is we want to call it, seems like the right thing to do. As though something will hold our hands and make us walk the ‘right’ path. As though the wind will knock at the ‘right’ door on our behalf. As though we’ll open our eyes one morning, and there it will be, the ‘right’ life, fixed and ready to be lived.
Let’s get real. Let’s write our own stories.
Welcome to my blog, The Shooting Star. I’ve been called a storyteller, writer, photographer, digital nomad, “sustainability influencer,” social entrepreneur, solo traveller, vegan, sustainable tourism consultant and environmentalist. But in my heart, I’m just a girl who believes that travel – if done right – has the power to change us and the world we live in.
There’s this dialogue in Kaminey that goes like “Zindagi main hamari watt if baat fey nahi lagti ki hum konfa rafta chuntey hai, balki if baat fey lagti hai ki hum konfa rafta chodtey hain” 🙂
Your post reminded me of that dialogue!
What will be, will definitely will be… There’s surely something called destiny but it is not always right to fall back upon it and relax. I believe all of us have it in us to change it any time we want.
Destiny…hmm
destiny is interesting. This word gives us a hiding place to hide our own shortcoming in efforts.
There may be times when the above statement may not seem applicable…most likely in our own case.
But more important to know here is that people use this destiny in same breath as ‘deserve’
They might say that, ‘this happened because of his destiny’ and ‘he should have been in a better place, because he deserved it’.
I personally feel that there is no such thing as ‘deserve’. I may be wrong but these are my own views.
Nobody deserves anything and nothing deserves anybody.
A person is where he or she is supposed to be because of his own efforts.
As far as destiny is concerned, I am flattish in this trade with a negative bias 🙂
I always believed astrology at its best can only tell what happened in the past with some degree of precision. What it predicts for our future is just an educated guess, which I think we too can make if we asked as many questions as the astrologer does. And you are right – we have to write our own stories the way we wish it to happen. Beautifully written, Shivya! 🙂
@ Varun: Oh well, don’t remind me of that movie! And if we really can change it, then it isn’t destiny any more, is it?
@ Dev: Interesting view, but I’m a little confused. If a person is where he is because of it efforts, then it does mean that he ‘deserves’ it, right?
@ Thethoughtfultrain: Thanks 🙂 But I think that’s where we’re wrong. We always extrapolate from our past to predict our future, when in reality, we can do so much more in the future. It ends up becoming a self-fulfilling prediction in most cases. Would you agree?
Destiny. A nice word to keep us confused. A journey has a destination. I am going to Mumbai from Kolkata BY TRAIN. Am I destined to go to Mumbai? At a particular date and time? Can I change this destiny, if I suddenly feel? Am I going to disappoint some people who are going to wait for me at the station? Do I have a choice just to drop off at some unknown station and vanish? Are my friends going to take me for dead or a social drop out? Are Sannyasis social drop outs and dead to society? Ask any famous GURU this question.
Destiny involves time and distance. Once we arrive, the journey has stopped and it is boring. As soon as you pass your IAS examination you have accomplished your destiny. You might be dead, because the machine you will serve has no life in it. IAS some times stands for “I AM STUPID” and also some other time stands for “Indian Alsatian Service”, who is adored for his devotion to Master.
A dog does not worry about his destiny, he is only interested to play with his master. Am I my own Master? You bet. Then let me play with my master that is my SELF. That will not be considered masterbation or self abuse.
Yes..lets be real.. but Do you see choices to lead fixed life …Only When Life gives you multiple choices and surprises.. and once we r smart enough to chose them ,We l be able to lead a fixed life …
Destiny ..There l always be IFs and But’s.. but guess what we have now is best .. and should not regret it …:) .Kal Ho na Ho …
…btw Nice blog…..
My family enjoyed a comfortable life. One fine day there were changes in our life. My husband resigned, we had a tough time, we knew who the real friends were. But we never gave hope , never lost our soul. The inner strength led us.We struggled hard and another door opened. In fact I feel now it is better than what we were earlier. we are happy the way we are, what we have. We never moped thinking it was destiny .There are some situations beyond our control. But how to come out of each is more important.That is my opinion. 🙂
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Really liked the last line 🙂
Let’s get real. Let’s write our own stories.
We still have to have our destimy-karma-rebirth talk…
Shivya, that is exactly the point I was making, that future cannot be predicted from our past. I guess I should have framed it better. 🙂
For most of us , destiny is something we can put all the blames on for our failure … more of a escape goat ….
We get what we deserve … its all about your Karma … what you have earned …. what you deserve …. accidents are a part of life and that’s where we love to drag destiny in and pile all the blames over it ….
Well destiny and fate are somethings which are meant to be…It depends on individual to brood about things blaming it or just take things as they come…
But yes zodiac signs are fun….Especially reading things about yourself..Sometimes feels like unraveling 🙂
Hey Shivya you have been tagged @ http://verbalfiend.wordpress.com/
Just noticed…chocolate addiction instead of starbucks?