Contributed by Trisha Kaiser
Do you believe in destiny? Do you believe in fate? These are two very similar questions, but with two completely different answers. Fate is what places opportunities in front of us, but our destiny is really determined by our decisions. For instance, you go interview for the perfect job and feel it is everything you have every wanted. But what you do about it is your destiny.
I believe we are in full control of our choices and that our actions, in response to what fate offers us, matter. We are here to learn lessons. Isn’t that what life is about? Making hard decisions is what helps us grow as humans. Our destiny is not something that we can just sit back and let happen. We need to take ACTION on the opportunities that are presented to us. We can either let fate lead us through life, or we can shape our own destiny.
We often become stuck in our way of thinking, feeling like the choice is out of our hands and we have no control over it. Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you made other choices; if you had completed high school, gone to college, moved to another city, waited to have kids? These are all pretty big decisions in life, yet we allow excuses to take precedence over why we made the choice we did; it’s too far to move, it just wasn’t for me, life happened. These are all reasons why YOU felt you couldn’t change your destiny. You made excuses to allow your fate to take a different path. Yes it can be scary, and yes it takes time to adjust, but once you make that decision and take the leap, you feel good about what you have done. And not only that, you begin to believe more in yourself and your decision making. So why not shift your destiny in that new directions if that’s what you want?
Don’t think of life with the attitude of what will be, will be, but think about it as something you have control over, you can make deliberate actions to create your destiny. This means being true to yourself and not following in others footsteps. It’s about not letting people’s opinions sway your decision. Being authentic is the best way to determine not just any destiny, but the one that is meant for you. Fate presents us with the opportunities to create it, all we need to do is decide what destiny we want.
Don’t be a passive bystander in your own life. Ask yourself where you want to be in five years and work backwards. Understand what you value and what makes you tick. Decide what and who you want to keep in your life. Don’t sit back and let someone or something else guide you along; take the wheel and drive towards your destination…. your own destiny!