Destiny

[Arkham Noir]

"Destiny refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual"

Whether it be through religion or some form of hocus-pocus crap, alot of people believe in the concept of destiny. That your life is but a story ready to unfold before you. No matter what you do, it was going to happen no matter what. It comes in different forms, whether it be someone was destined to become great ,or you were made to end up with the person you love.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a stupid a concept as anything to be concieved on the planet earth. If you sit in a chair and don't move, nothing will happen to you. Nothing. You will die of starvation a sad and lonely man/women. Anything that is ever going to happen in your life has to be done through your actions. That isn't to say that somethings won't happen by chance, but the point is that you will get what you put into life, usually less. If you think that your destiny is to become president, you have to go out there and work your ass off for it.

So the question here is; Do you believe in destiny? That your life has already been set and stone and your just living through it with no control.

Don't confuse this with fate. Fate is:

1.The cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events.
Fate is the results of a cause ( you punch someone in the face, your fate is most likely to get hit back) Fate is what will happen because you did something, where as destiny means it was all going to happen like it or not, regardless of your actions.

 

[Ultra Awesome]

I always believed that destiny is something that you control in life. From the momment you are born to the day you die, your mind grows like a sponge; absorbing all kinds of infromation from the real world. Based on that knowledge that your mind abosrbs, you form your own thoughts as well as your own beliefs. But more importantly, you choose what decisions you want to make in life. The outcome of any given situation is determined by how well you handle that specific situation. If you are to handle it miserably, then the outcome will be horrendous, but if you handle the action well, then the outcome will be fantastic. Good or bad, these decisions you make in life affect how you will be in the future.

Thus, drives me to the point when I say, "Destiny doesn't make you", "YOU make destiny". In other words, the actions you take in life will ultimately affect the destiny that you have. Every decision you make, every decision you DONT take, every action you take, every action you DONT take---all of these set a new path for you to take in your life.
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For example, the average teenager faces an issue where they just don't want to do well in school. They go with the idea that school is for nerds, and they'd rather be out doing drugs and other bullshit like that. So in this type of situation, this person has one of two choices.

1) He continues with this belief and stops caring about school. He lets his grades drop; getting only D's and F's; and instead of focusing on school, he goes out and smokes weed and gets drunk. Now, at first he is having a blast, but when he turns 18, the fun is over. High School is over; he didn't graduate; and has to get a job. But the only problem is that he has to get a minimum wage job because he doesn't have the credentials to look for a high paying job. So what happens? This guy has his future locked in working at MCDonalds flipping burgers or some other minimum wage job.

OR...

2) He disregards the drugs and decides to continue on building his education. In this situation, this guy strives to be the best he can be in high school; spending hours and hours on his studies; achieving amazing GPA's; as well as commiting time to extra curicular activities---All for the purpose of going to college and eventually getting a well paying job. So what happens to this guy? He ends up at a UC where he majors in the field of psychology and ultimately becomes a psychologist---a fun, well paying job.

Do you see the difference here? The guy had one of two choices when he was deciding whether to care about school or not. Had he taken decision number 1, he would of ended up at McDonalds. On the other hand, had he taken number 2, he would have ended up as a psychologist.
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All in all, the decisions you make in life affect the destiny you will have in life. Every action you take counts so the best thing to do is always try to make the wise decisions. Destiny is something you control, not something that has been set for you.

 

[Xemmy]

Agreed. Destiny is foolish for 2 reasons.


1. There is no proof. There is simply no evidence that time, decision, and the cosmos are simply written in stone.

2. It's Stupid. If destiny is true, then in reality no one is responsile for there actions. Blow up a hospital? Well it was your destiny to do so. When you put it like that, not only does destiny sound stupid, but you'll find that you don't really believe in it either, because at the end of the day, you'll still blame the puppet won't you?

 

[Dagger Dias]

I don't believe in a "destiny" bein set in stone. We are born with potential futures lined up for us, but we end up where we chose to be through our own decisions and actions. You could be "destined" for something, but then end up somewhere else because of one or more decisions you made. Humans have the ability to escape a negative "destiny" if they so choose to through determination and the right choices. Unfortunately the other side of the coin holds true as well. A great potential future could be ruined and closed off as an option due to bad decisions, too.

 

[ABMorales787]

No. If destiny was set for you, what the point in living then? To make a novel come to life? I'm not a character in someone's novel, I'm a real person. And if I go blow up a hospital, it wasn't because I was supposed to, it's because I chose to.

 

[LigerBomb]

As far as I'm concerned, this is a stupid a concept as anything to be concieved on the planet earth. If you sit in a chair and don't move, nothing will happen to you. Nothing. You will die of starvation a sad and lonely man/women.

And such would be your destiny.
"Resigning himself to do nothing but sit and wait for life to do all the work for him, he was destine to die a lonely young man."

Anything that is ever going to happen in your life has to be done through your actions. That isn't to say that somethings won't happen by chance, but the point is that you will get what you put into life, usually less.

Tell that to the beneficiaries of nepotism and the "right connections"; To the men and women who worked hard all their lives just to get laid-off through no fault—or inaction—of their own; To the genetically gifted men and women out walking their dogs who are then discovered and become rich and famous actors and/or models; To the unfortunate victims of circumstance.

What's that Woody Allen line?
"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"

Lennon had a good on too:
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"

If you think that your destiny is to become president, you have to go out there and work your ass off for it.

Dubya

Don't confuse this with fate.

Actually it really depends how you look at it and what set of prescribed definitions you have allegiance to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destiny#Destiny_versus_fate

Anyway, It sounds like you're railing against destiny, when really, your beef is with general laziness and those who (mis)use destiny as a rationalization for said laziness. You're on the right track, but I think you got off at the wrong station.

 

[LSN80]

I dont believe in destiny, that my life was predetermined. Theres just no proof to show that it exists. I dont see myself as a puppet being pulled by strings. There are external factors and variables that play a part into who we are, such as origin of birth, economic status, health, intelligence, and engrained beliefs. But in the end, it is we who make the decisions for ourselves of who we are and who we will become.

Destiny allows people to be free of their own actions. It says that any act we engaged in we were "destined" to do it, so we should be excused. It completely eliminates the concept of free will from the equation, which is what all of us are born with. If given much thought, the idea of "destiny" is nothing more then a video game ideal.