This is not going to be a blog on religion. As you’ve likely noticed, I am avoiding politics, names of people and religion. But the question of fate is not necessarily one of religion. You don’t need to believe in g-d in order to believe that things happen for a reason or that your decisions lead you to other decisions that get you to where you are supposed to be.
I believe in fate. I believe in the “feelings” I get when something is going to happen. No, I don’t watch Long Island Medium – the woman on TV who can talk to the dead (well, I watched it once — who could resist?!). The reason I believe in fate is that I have experienced enough “coincidence,” improbability and “feelings” about things that for me, it begs the question. While I may not believe in the fate of every atom being preordained, I do believe that there are subtle and not so subtle moments of fate. Lately, I’ve noticed that these “things” have been happening more frequently. Yesterday was one of those days.
In the morning, I had a phone conversation with someone who was very upset. I recognize that this person was feeling hurt but it came out in an unpleasant and angry way. At the exact moment that I got off the phone I felt compassion for this friend and the situation. But I was immediately struck by a feeling that this conversation was telling me something – and that something important would happen as a result (something did actually happen later in the day but I’m going to save that until I know exactly what’s happening). I know many of you have had those same feelings and “something” has happened as a result. I call that fate.
This is not a discussion on my personal life. This is really a discussion on allowing life to take its due course. To be open to the fate/direction/opportunities that will come our way. We can’t change people or situations. We can’t control whether they are angry or happy, mean or nice. All we can control is our response and then we must allow these experiences to shape our life in a positive way (I am a big believer in positive over negative – call me a Pollyanna!).
Too many things have happened in my life, too many “chance” meetings, too many unusual situations that seem to fit together, for me to call it random. Yet, I really don’t have an answer on fate v. not fate. I just keep my eyes and heart open. Sometimes “fate” will slap me in the face (as happened yesterday) – sometimes it’s more subtle. In either case, I think it makes life interesting!
Have an insightful day!
theyearof50 