Yesterday's Destiny

Today I thought I had it all figured out, my purpose, my future, my destiny. Then tomorrow came and my today turned into just another yesterday, filled with lost purpose, unfulfilled dreams, a destiny denied.

You see, yesterday is a tricky thing. It can be just one day or even five years. It has many names, each with its own face, each face a stunning accusation at tomorrow. Every yesterday is a representation of opportunities passed; every tomorrow the embodiment of hope, a renewed prospect on the road to a destiny fulfilled.

Yet destiny is erratic…subjective at the very least.

Were it not, there would exist no free will, no choices, no decisions.

Does, therefore, destiny truly even exist? What is this thing called destiny? Something written on the core of our beings, an ingredient in our genetic batter that determines who and what we will become? A mysterious end to a yet undetermined journey? How do we even know what our destiny is and if it is ever truly fulfilled? Who discovered this thing called destiny? Was it divine revelation or merely the machinations of a man disappointed at the end of his long journey, afraid to take responsibility for the choices he made? But were they not his choices to make?

It is said that unto each man is given free will. What is this will and how is it free? Perhaps it is true that we are at liberty to choose what course we take. Perhaps. But at what cost do those choices come? Does not each choice lead to an action, whether deliberate or inadvertent, which in turn has an equal reaction? And does not that reaction have value for which we are to be held responsible?

If destiny is truly pre-determined then what is the point of this free will? Why would we make choices if we are only to have one end, if all roads lead to the same place? Would not your destiny then be whatever you turned out to be at the end of your journey? And if so, can a destiny truly be unfulfilled? At the end of the day do we ever say, “poor man, that was truly a destiny unfulfilled?” Not so, but rather no matter what happened in his life, no matter what choices he made, how his life was measured is merely attributed to “destiny.” It was somehow “just meant to be.”

Can destiny and free will coexist? If yes, can we then openly choose not to pursue our destiny? And, should we choose a new conclusion or final destination – hmmm… “destination…” How does destiny fit into that? A root? A core element? A coincidence? Yes, well… If, for whatever reason, we can and do choose an alternate conclusion to our existence, then have we not essentially re-written our destiny? And does that not subsequently negate the existence of that very thing as it is defined?

Destiny is defined as “the inevitable or necessary fate to which a particular person or thing is assigned for a specific end, use or purpose.” Yet we speak of it as something which we pursue. To pursue is to strive for something. We vigorously chase after it, hungry for its sustenance as though it is a beginning rather than an end. Yet, to what end do we follow this mirage in the desert? After all, it is by definition inevitable…correct?