Do You Believe in Destiny or Free Will?
Do you believe in destiny or free will? It is an age old question that many of us ask when it comes to our lives. Is every aspect of your life determined by destiny; a fate that is predetermined for you from the moment that you are born or do you have free will and the ability to choose the path that your life takes?
Everything in life is not black and white, so it is often difficult to determine the truth behind these types of inquiries. Before you decide which belief is yours, let’s take a look at each path.
What is Destiny?
Believing in destiny means that your life is a predetermined course of events that cannot be changed. No matter what you do, say, or experience, it was already set in stone for your life well before your soul even entered your body. Having a predetermined destiny means that you have no control over the events or actions that you were destined to experience.
Many spiritual individuals have had feelings or meaningful events in their life that have led them to a certain point. Is this destiny? Perhaps you missed your flight; the plane ends up falling from the sky because of engine failure. Did your pre-determined fate ensure that your life did not end in a fiery death?
What is Free Will?
Free will, on the other hand, is when you make the decisions and the choices in your life that send you down a path. Nothing is predetermined by divine will, and your future is not decided in any way. If you work hard and make smart decisions, you will have a great life, but if you settle and make poor choices in life, things may not turn out so great for you.
Free will gives us the motivation to try. If your choices never matter in life, then why make them? Just let the coins fall as they may. William Shakespeare once said “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” If this is true, free will definitely plays a part in shaping our lives.
How Your Experiences are Determined
Every individual is born with a certain path that their life is supposed to take. This path includes lessons that you should learn in life and experiences that we are meant to live, but that path can be disrupted. We will lean towards a certain path, but the choices that you make in life can cause a ripple effect that will change your destiny.
Think of it this way: A river has a specific flow, but you can build a dam to block the water. This changes the depth of the water at that point and further down the river, the same concept will apply to your life. Any ripple you create, will affect your life down the road; in fact, you can often look back and see exactly where your path in life changed.
The reality that you experience in your life is a combination of destiny and free will. Your intentions, your emotions, your beliefs, and your current momentum in life all affect the choices you make, but so do environmental forces, spiritual forces, and the people that you surround yourself with. Your life may be set on a path, but it is up to you whether you follow it or not.
Destiny and free will truly are connected; in fact, sometimes it can be difficult to see that they are not different at all. They are actually two sides of the same coin that is affected by your thoughts and experiences.
When your life is not aligned with your mind, it is destiny, but when everything aligns perfectly, it is called free will. Are they really different or is your thought process just making a logical explanation for when things in your life do not go the way that you plan?
Whether our lives are predetermined or not, the reactions we have to these predetermined points in time help to forge the path that your life takes. Not everything is set in stone, but some things may be out of your hands. Remember belief is part of what shapes your reality, so you must decide for yourself. Do you believe in destiny or free will?
