Do you believe that some things are "fated"?

[aranarose]

Do you believe that there are somethings that "fate" or the universe or god or who/whatever deems so important for our growth and development that we must go through them whether we want to or not?

[Lightning Strike]

I didn't I have to admit, but I do now..

[Chaos Hawk]

I have always believed in fate. I think there is a reason behind everything. I just don't think humans are privy to that information.

[lamoka]

Totally.. I believe the soul (where God/dess resides) decides the life path before coming.. I believe there are certain challenges placed for specific reasons.. I believe free will is how we choose to deal with those challenges.. I believe karma is whether or not we have learned the lessons well that the challenges gave us the opportunity to learn and whether we need to rechallenge ourselves on the same lesson the next round..
aho

[aranarose]

I don't really want to believe in fate. But there are certain things that have happened in my life, and that are currently happening in my life, that seem to be preparing me for a very specific upcoming event. It's making me rethink my whole perspective.

[phoenixrising]

It appears you beat me here LS, I echo her response. I used to be strongly opposed to the idea actually. I didn't like the idea that things were out of my control. I did some thinking on it since then, and have decided that they still are.. its the course/things my soul set out to do/experience as I chose my next body in the summerlands.

[Lorrie]

I learned the hard way that certain things are meant to be certain ways, and there isn't much we can do about it. I don't think this is for everything in life, but certain things, the major happenings.

[Labrynth]

I believe in fate to a degree, i believe that we chose to come here, to be born to certain parents and put in a certain environment situation. But i strongly believe that it is up to us how we deal with the situtation we were dealt, wether we are going to learn from the hardships and lessons life throws at us and become a better person from it or if we give up.

[TheWomanMonster]

I believe that we each shape our own destinies.
but that there are some choices that others will make or that we will make that are 'fated'.

it's a complicated notion but it makes sense in my brain.

[Nefeltari]

I believe the big events are fated at least. Maybe sometimes the small ones too. I'm not 100% decided on this.

[Against The Tide]

I think Shakey was spot on when he said:

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely
players
Because although there is a 'script', a general design, individuals can choose to act a little differently then fate intends. Those who are strong willed shape the universe around themselves, whilst the rest just go with the flow, the particular weak willed I think of as window dressing because they don't do anything of note.

[Philosophia]

Do you believe that there are somethings that "fate" or the universe or god or who/whatever deems so important for our growth and development that we must go through them whether we want to or not?

I believe that "fate" is based upon the choices and decisions we make that ultimately create the events in our lives. Our deities can guide us but they can't make us walk the path of life. We have to choose it for ourselves.

[LostSheep]

I'm not sure if individual people have "fates" mapped out for them and what have you... but I do think that there's, if not a "divine plan" exactly, that the universe operates according to predetermined principles and to patterns that some sort of intelligence has designed... so if something happens, then maybe it's following the principles by which the universe operates. Not that someone upstairs decided that this thing will happen to this person, and so, on, but that what does happen happens because that's the way the universe was planned to operate ... like way atoms follow the "rules" of science, that kind of thing...

[Branwen_Yr_Hardd]

I believe certain events are fated but not everything as I also believe in free will. I believe it's rather like roads. We travel along our life path and key fated events happen which act like a crossroads. The freewill comes in when you decide for yourself which turn you will take at these crossroads.

[LadyCelt]

I don't know if everything is since birth for fate or destiny, but I do believe in fate, callings, and divine interventions. For instance, you go through rough times, and then a certain goddess or god calls out to you to be in your life after this. Now, this may not have been since birth, but I still consider it fate. I also believe it can be fated for people to be around each other. Now, it may also be up to those people to take it to the next level too. I think its fate with what we do with it that is a big part of our lives.

[blackroseivy]

I've had precognitive dreams. This is a tricky subject - but I see that there are "road-signs" along the way, not everything is "controlled by fate", BUT... there are certain inevitabilities. I think that it is a very hard thing to have to deal with in life - it's easier to believe we control everything.

[Zephyrstorm]

Right now I think that there are some things that are Fated, and everything else just is. a Fated event can be big or small to the person most directly affected, but the results may be far bigger than we can see.

I also believe that one chooses how to respond to Fate.

[FaeSpirit39]

I guess you could call me a hybrid.

I am a very strong believer in fate, being on Earth for a specific reason and the term, "everything happens for a reason". However, I also believe that you can't hold on to that just based on that alone.

The realities of this world and free will is where everything else comes into play. Fate may bring you too it, but it's not what's going to make you keep it. You will have to work hard on based on your own free will and choices you make to maintain what was brought to you. Because what is 'Fated' to you or pre-destined before your time here on Earth, can be easily taken away if you don't watch your actions.

These of course are my own thoughts and feelings based on my own life experiences. Someone elses could very well be different and that's OK too.

[Novembers River]

I tend to believe everything happens for a reason because I believe in karma. Our actions help contribute to future events.

I do not believe in fate where anything in life is pre-determined by a force outside of myself.

[lizea]

This is an incredibly complicated topic for me... Do I believe that I was fated to give myself a cardboard cut so deep I needed stitches opening a CD (yea, I got skills...) yesterday? No. Do I believe that I was supposed to lose my best friend in the world in a car accident? Well, I don't want to believe that... but I don't know.

I think that humans in general prefer to believe that either A) They are in control all the time... or B) There is a plan for everything, and everything happens for a reason. People want to believe both of these because it makes them feel more at ease about everything...

But then there is no way of really knowing. Either everything is all planned out and in that case, no matter what you do you can't get away from your fate. You can believe that by sleeping in and not getting hit by a bus, you changed your fate, but really your fate was probably to sleep in... You can't avoid it if that is the way the world is set up. But then again you can sit around in your pajamas waiting for a sign as to what to do all day long... unless that is your fate, and you aren't supposed to do anything meaningful with your life...

Or the second option: You really do control your fate, and you are responsible for everything you do. Maybe it is more pleasant to believe the first if you cause the death of someone or something, because then you can just say it was fate, it would have happened no matter what... But then again, in this scenerio, you are control of your own life... well then you are solely responsible... And you can't look to the stars for a bigger picture, because there isn't some master plan. There is no manuscript, it is all improv and noone has a clue what they are doing...

Hmm... I don't really know what it to believe... If I live my life thinking that there is no fate, but there is... well then it doesn't matter in the slightest because I was just fated to believe in a false truth. But then again, if I live my life like there is fate, and everything is supposed to happen for a reason, and the opposite is true... well then I guess it doesn't matter that way either, because I am controling my fate and I am in control of what I believe and it doesn't matter...

I don't know, that's just the way I look at it... it isn't a matter of if we believe in it in the end... fate is going to get us all one day... if it exists...

I'm so inconclusive today... oh well... Maybe I was fated to be inconclusive today... or then again, maybe not... alright I'm done now... or am I?...

[Tanya]

"The future has not been written. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves."

no to fate.

Yes to a witch taking her life in her hands and making it work by hook, crook and her wiles

[Meadhbh]

I think there are caertain things in our lives that we have to go though wither we want to or not. Normally these are the things we have to learn from and the things are least likely to want to have to learn from. If our lives were the way we wanted them to be and every thing turned out wonderfully we would never gain any experence from them.

[Jolixte]

I believe in probability, but fate? Not so much.

[Shawn Blackwolf]

The threads of fate , are the web

of synchronicity between spirit...

[Astara Seague]

always have and always will

[Caitlin.ann]

I believe somethings will end up happening no matter what because they're supposed to happen, but I also believe people can influence their own fate as well.

[cheddarsox]

I don't believe in specific fate, like that I was supposed to meet a certain person so we could become friends. But clearly there are things that just ARE, no matter what we feel or intend...people will age and die, someday the sun will burn out, the laws and forces of the universe are Fate as far as I am concerned, and they will do what they will do, and do have a great deal of control over what will and wont happen.

I do not believe that there is a "reason" for everything, like a specific plan. But I do believe in cause/effect.

[~*Sacred*~]

Yes I do, but we have already chosen it for ourselves.

I think we are all meant to go through a LOT of things in our lives....things that are already predetermined. Not by the Gods or some other force, but by ourselves. In the Summerlands I believe we choose what life lessons we want to learn in our next life (however small or big), therefore we are destined (by our own hand) to go through certain things.

[FaeSpirit39]

Yes I do, but we have already chosen it for ourselves.

I think we are all meant to go through a LOT of things in our lives....things that are already predetermined. Not by the Gods or some other force, but by ourselves. In the Summerlands I believe we choose what life lessons we want to learn in our next life (however small or big), therefore we are destined (by our own hand) to go through certain things.

You have said it far better than I could have.

[Arinya]

I think there are definitely paths that we must go down for our spiritual development, but I also think we can choose not to go down them, but we'll simply be faced with the same situation over and over until we face it. We're fated to go through some things but have some power over when. I think. Lol. It's a hard question!

[dragoncrone]

That was my definition of 'god' when I was a kid, before I had ever heard of 'pagan' concepts. My mother was an antheist, so I sort of got to make it up as I went along.

I still pretty much feel that way. The magical emergence of baby chicks from eggs - of a dandelion growing right up through asphalt - that you can mix up a bunch of stuff in a bowl, put it someplace hot and it becomes cake - really, isn't it all magickal when you stop and think about it?

Look back on your life, when you were forced to change plans - or went somewhere on a whim - or read a certain book - and out of that, your path was altered, maybe only slightly, maybe in a big way. That's the 'Fate' part. It's not good, or bad - it just 'is.'

[Lupabitch]

I don't see it so much as "fated to be", as it is that a certain probability gains enough momentum that there's really not much you can do to keep it from crashing into you.

[PrincessKLS]

Yes, and sometimes it's simply out of our hands.

[1111]

As much as it sucks, YES!

But there always seems a reason for it, like it or not. And usually I don't. :lol:

[aranarose]

As much as it sucks, YES!

But there always seems a reason for it, like it or not. And usually I don't. :lol:

Tell me about it!

[1111]

Question is, how do we change that? How do I get my way? :rollingla

[aranarose]

Question is, how do we change that? How do I get my way? :rollingla

Maybe change your mind so that your way is fate's way? :hahugh:

[1111]

Maybe change your mind so that your way is fate's way? :hahugh:


:goodgrief

The way I see it fate does not play fair......not my fair anyway.

[aranarose]

:goodgrief

The way I see it fate does not play fair......not my fair anyway.

Humph... I know what you mean. It takes it's own sweet damn time getting where it wants to go regardless of where you want to go with your life.

[1111]

Humph... I know what you mean. It takes it's own sweet damn time getting where it wants to go regardless of where you want to go with your life.


Right, exactly why everyone will tell you to be patient. You admit you are patient, I on the other hand not so much.
:sadman:

[sarabethv]

Not so much. I believe that we make our own destiny; however, being who we are, there are sometimes not so many choices, or we make the ones that we must make because we are who we are. For instance, a lion is not suddenly going to become a puppy dog. So in that way, sure we can say fated. However, we can change that (its not easy but it can happen). Sometimes we see something coming, we know its coming, we don't want it, but we just have to let it happen because after all it is for the best. There are always lessons to learn and challenges to overcome, but we have free will to do or not to do.

[aranarose]

Right, exactly why everyone will tell you to be patient. You admit you are patient, I on the other hand not so much.
:sadman:

Ha! Me, patient? Uh uh. Nope. I want what I want NOW.

[1111]

Ha! Me, patient? Uh uh. Nope. I want what I want NOW.

Yep, me too and that works out oh so well. :smileroll

[Greybird]

God made me vote 'no'.

;)

Seriously, though, yes, but in a very, very limited capacity. Some things receive a cosmic nudge, but most of existance is ruled by free will. Now, you've got to understand my cosmology to really understand my views in this. We, the conscious us, is only an echo of our full selves. Our greater selves do sometimes control things in our lives in order to put us in the kinds of situations we need to be in. I don't see this as contrary to free will, as the active force is still us - just a part of us that we aren't normally in contact with, except during some religious and spiritual activities.

[1111]

God made me vote 'no'.

;)



:hehehehe:

[Solya]

I believe that the major things in life are fated, like the people you meet and the lessons you learn, but that it is your choice what you do about it and how you come to meet these people and learn these lessons. I believe that I have chosen for certain things before I was born in this life, but that the way in which I'm going to get or achieve these things will be up to me to decide.

All in all, I believe in a mixture of fate and free will. Some choices just have to be made according to fate, while other choices take you down a different path before you meet with fate. I used to believe that everything in life was down to my own free will until the heap of "coincidences" became too large to tackle with that mindset. Now I believe the universe lets things come to me as I've chosen them before birth and that I'm free to decide when I'm going to tackle them.

[Infinite Grey]

No, I do not believe in fate.

Do I believe everything happens for a reason? Of cause it does! I fell out of a tree when I was 10 because of gravity and I was too heavy for that particular branch to bare my weight. I was in a car accident because I ran a red light. The sun produces light and heat because of a combination of gravity and a nuclear reaction. The Earth obits the sun because of gravity... I do not see any Divine plan, just cause and effect.

Honestly, I find that far more appealing than some supernatural busy-body poking their nose into my affairs.

[Lyrien]

I believe in fate to a degree, i believe that we chose to come here, to be born to certain parents and put in a certain environment situation. But i strongly believe that it is up to us how we deal with the situtation we were dealt, wether we are going to learn from the hardships and lessons life throws at us and become a better person from it or if we give up.


I believe certain events are fated but not everything as I also believe in free will. I believe it's rather like roads. We travel along our life path and key fated events happen which act like a crossroads. The freewill comes in when you decide for yourself which turn you will take at these crossroads.


Yes I do, but we have already chosen it for ourselves.

I think we are all meant to go through a LOT of things in our lives....things that are already predetermined. Not by the Gods or some other force, but by ourselves. In the Summerlands I believe we choose what life lessons we want to learn in our next life (however small or big), therefore we are destined (by our own hand) to go through certain things.


These quotes sum up my thoughts.

[David19]

I can't remember if I've posted in this thread before, but I do believe in Fate, and I believe that some or all of the events (maybe just the major ones?, I haven't given it much thought yet) are fated to happen, but I do believe we can use our free will to deal with the event, e.g. let's say, I'm on an airplane, it crashes, and me and others are left alive but wounded and stranded, that event might be fated (for myself, by the Gods that Decree Fate), but it would be up to me (and the others) to work improving that situation, to work towards survival, etc.

Did that make any sense, hopefully it did.

[BlueSage]

It appears you beat me here LS, I echo her response. I used to be strongly opposed to the idea actually. I didn't like the idea that things were out of my control. I did some thinking on it since then, and have decided that they still are.. its the course/things my soul set out to do/experience as I chose my next body in the summerlands.



quite interesting. is it in your path's path if someone intercepts that path with something? like if they viewed you astrally and realized your life path in the akashic records and sent something along your path. is that then part of your path in its "written" status or not? i've viewed the records for only a little bit before the energy was too great and i was forced to wake up :(

[Buick]

I believe that some things are fated to happen . However I also believe that fate is reserved for those who follow their heart.

As corny and or cheesy as that might sound.

[BlueSage]

i think fate is an event that is already "set in stone."

but as i have experienced from viewing the wavelengths of the akashic records---that fate can be changed with just a little nudge.

for me "fate" is what is going to happen anytime from the next second to the next millenia.

[Malcolm]

Everything is fated, except your choices. Every possible outcome is decided but not all decisions are decided for you.

[RainInanna]

Do you believe that there are somethings that "fate" or the universe or god or who/whatever deems so important for our growth and development that we must go through them whether we want to or not?

Nope, I believe in chance and choice (including the impact of others' choices and how they come together by chance to create situations). I think Shawn's description is most apt - threads of synchronicity. The web is weaved as I go. I have dealt with a lot of pain from thinking I was following fate and destiny. Instead I choose will, acceptance, and choice.

Just my experience, and thoughts that are echoed by the Divine I speak with.

[Aveline]

I have recently been introduced to the concept of Wyrd and that has really helped me to reconcile a complete and solid belief in "fate" with a complete and solid belief in "free will". I think Silly Nilly summed it up best in the thread called "What is Wyrd?"



That is:
things happen--that's fate
those things affect you--that's Wyrd
you react to/respond to/factor in those happenings--that's free will.

[Shawn Blackwolf]

Dear Aveline...

We all have our moments...we all play the fool well ,
at different times...

However , our MW member's name you quoted , is
"Skilly - Nilly" , not "Silly - Nilly"...

Just for the record...but , yes , it was a astute observation...

Blessings...

[Aveline]

Dear Aveline...

We all have our moments...we all play the fool well ,
at different times...

However , our MW member's name you quoted , is
"Skilly - Nilly" , not "Silly - Nilly"...

Just for the record...but , yes , it was a astute observation...

Blessings...

Apologies to sKilly - nilly... guess I read your name too quickly. Thank you Shawn for pointing it out.

[Diotima]

I believe in divine guidance. "Fate" may arrange it so that certain events will occur, but it is ultimately one's own decision, what to make of them. Following the previous plane crash example: a plane may crash on a desert island and I find out that I am one of five survivors. If the plane crash is something arranged by fate, it hasn't still decided whether I will end up dying on the beach, just surviving or surviving and writing a bestseller novel about my experiences.

I think that such events are rare though- mostly, it's chance, choice and coincidence.
I don't believe that our lives at large are predestined to go certain way. I believe that everyone's life has a purpose, but that it is probably useless to spend much time pondering what it could be.

[mtpathy]

there is no such thing as something that has yet to exist, fate is the belief that the future is predetermined. theres only choice in the moment and by the choice you take different paths open or close.
look behind you, there ceases to be a past. look ahead of you, there ceases to be a future. look down at your feet and there you stand in the present.

[Mesektet]

Utterly and Completely without Hesitation.

[Gwyddyon]

I don't believe in fate, no. I've never encountered anything that would make me believe that it exists and which was not easily attributable to either human arrogance ("surely it was MEANT to happen to me because the Universe has nothing better to do") or a need to assign blame/vent anger or loss ("Spot must have died for a reason! It must have been pre-determined, and therefore be part of the master plan, the plan in which my dog's death somehow plays a bizarre part..."). I also don't like certain moral implications of fate - if we are not in control, we do not have total responsibility. So no, unless the Universe decides to show me otherwise, I don't believe in fate or, consequently, divination.

[sunny.spoone]

I once tried to explain my exact thoughts on Fate and Destiny to my boyfriend once. It involved a lot of diagrams, arm waving, and paradoxical thinking. I think the closest I got to making sense was saying "I believe everything is fated but there is no Fate." Keep in mind, I consider myself a secular Taoist. I believe in some really cracked out shifting-yet-absolute destiny model. It goes well with my atheistic belief in God.

[Toki Wartooth]

The fastest and simplest way I can explain it is this: compatibilism (see David Hume). I believe in cause/effect, and I believe in free will.

I don't believe things are necessarily "fated" or even necessarily important, spiritual or otherwise. The latter would depend on the person, though, IMO. I just think the closest thing to "fate" there is would be the effect or result of something prior's happening. The most basic example I can come up with: if you throw a baseball up into the air, it'll fall down due to gravity. It's "fated" that it will fall because that is what natural law says it will do. That's the extent of my belief in "fate."

[Convallaria]

Yes, I think everything in life happens for a reason... hmm, it's hard to explain. It may not be pre-ordained, but every action has consequences and those consequences are meant to be.

[Sage Rainsong]

I tend to think of fate as the factors in which we have no control over. I was born mixed race in Boston MA to a certain mother and father. That is my fate. What I do with that is up to me. I hope that makes sense.

[Manyx]

I don't believe in the conventional theory of destiny or fate. I see fate or destiny as a basic outline given to our life. But we are in control of that outline. By the things and experiences in our lives and how we act upon them effect that outline to some degree.

[Louisvillian]

Nah. I think fate's a load of malarkey. We make our own decisions, and we forge our own destinies, just like every other living being. Maybe the gods have given blessing to our planet, but we have continued existing because of our own luck, cognition, and adaptability. I do not believe in fate.

[Rosana]

I like to think that fate=influence. We are constantly affected by other people's actions, and so often we don't have any control over them. I do believe that our lives are shaped by consequences of our own deeds, but also by consequences of actions undertaken by the fellow humans - our friends, family, strangers... That is fate for me - the influence of the outside world - something we have no control over. I don't believe that we have "chosen" to be here, or that we have "chosen"our parents (according to my philosophy, our birth was the consequence of a decision made by our parents - and in the above-mentioned sense, I can call it "fate").

[Karri Morgan]

I believe in chaotic fate, one could say.

I dont think everything is determined, or actually, I dont think anything is determined, but I do have a certain idea of the universe, or the divine, putting things in a "could be" box. Life gives us opportunities, and might "lead" us to a certain point.

For example, some things seems more planned than others. When it comes to love, people usually dont find anything if they search too hard, or the time is not right. Very often, people find love when they dont expect it anymore, when they are finally truly ready for it.

So I think we have choices, but I also think that at times we are led by hand, to wherever we should be, or do. Because it often feels like we have no control whatsoever, as we make choices and do our best to move in a certain direction, but often just end up were we began, or in a completely different place than we hoped to be.

I dont know. I just feel like someone is watching me at times, and that I just cant seem to direct my life where I want it. Things often happen, and I just sit there. You could say that it is because I lack control of my life, but I dont think the answer is that simple. It feels more like I keep making the wrong choices, and someone keeps correcting me.

[orangeconey]

you can run...you can hide...it'll get you in the end...