I am not a religious person and would describe myself as agnostic; for when I think about the origin of our beautiful world and all its abundant flora and fauna, I can’t help but feel it can’t be here by chance. I am, however, inclined towards believing that things sometimes happen for a reason so I suppose I am something of a fatalist.
Fate is defined in the Oxford dictionary as ‘the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power’.
Do you believe in fate?
If you have seen the film Sliding Doors, or even Groundhog Day you will know how the outcome of any given situation can change on a sixpence depending on ‘what happens next’. I see this as fate. The chance meeting with someone who becomes your husband, or your lifelong friend. If you hadn’t gone out that evening, you would never have met. The simple fact can change life’s direction in the blink of an eye.
The novel ‘Life After Life’ by Kate Atkinson follows the heroine Ursula Todd from birth as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century ……..again and again. Each turn is defined by a slight twist in events which has an immeasurable impact on the outcome.
An example of this happened to me very recently. I answered a query and solved a problem for a neighbour on a social media neighbours’ network site of which I am a member. After exchanging a few totally unrelated messages, the neighbour told me he had seen that I was a funeral celebrant. As he is currently very unwell and is making up a folder of wishes for end of life, he told me he wanted to include my details with a view to my being asked to arrange his funeral, should the need arise. I was quite overwhelmed; if I hadn’t seen the original post, I would not have linked up with this gentleman. Fate.
Another such example was when I changed hairdressers. My new hairdresser asked me about my work and explained that she was very good friends with a funeral director who lived near to her. This led to an introduction and I visited the new funeral director who invited me to take one of his services. I have been working with him ever since.
Clearly, it is often rewarding to keep an eye open. Many good things come from a chance flip of a coin and from the action we choose to take. However, ultimately, I believe that my final destination is predetermined.
I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfil our destiny, but our fate is sealed.
Paulo Coelho
Do you believe in fate?
