Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Let’s Talk about Fate, Baby

I’ve got to admit that I had no less than 3 topics go through my head today for the writing prompt. What I ended up with is none of the three. I suppose that’s what happens when you finally clean yourself up and shove off to a party for a few hours. I come home after a few glasses of wine ready to crawl into bed and I let my mind pour out. It’s not entirely coherent. Or maybe it is but it’s something I think about often.

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: What’s your take on fate? Does everything happen for a reason? Are we in control of our own destiny?

Here we go…

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Do you believe in fate? I think fate is sort of a confusing word, at least to some people. It infers that everything is predetermined and we don’t really have a say in what happens in our lives.

Que sera sera. Whatever will be will be.

I don’t believe in fate, by this definition. I do, however, think that we are often given opportunities in life that lead us down the “right” path. The right path is different for everyone and it is ultimately a choice. But we can’t make the right choice if we’re not open to the choice.

I often hear people blame God for things that happen in their lives.

“The god I believe in wouldn’t allow something like this to happen.”

And yet, they rarely stop to think about this same god that would allow many wonderful things to happen: producing wonderful children, hearing birds sing, watching the flowers bloom in the spring.

I think the same thing it true in our daily lives. We’re quick to accept credit for our success and quick to lay blame for our failures.

In this regard, I don’t believe in fate. I don’t think we have predetermined lives. I think we all have free will and we make choices to make our lives more meaningful. Unfortunately, people are quite capable of making choices that are less than divine. When this happens, this is when I truly believe tragedy strikes.

But I don’t have negativity or tragedy on my mind too much. I feel like I’ve been given an opportunity. I almost said I felt like I was being led but if I said that, that implies that it’s not entirely my choice. I’ve been  given an opportunity that I almost said no to, simply because it seemed too hard and perhaps I had lost a little faith.

Instead, I said yes to the opportunity. And it’s blossoming. And everything seems to be happening in exactly the right way for exactly the right reasons.

More to come tomorrow…

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This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post below.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Now…

1. Grab the button

(it’s over in the sidebar)

2. Write your post.

3. Link up here.