it's your fate

Have you ever thought about your fate? I sure hadn't-- at least until I read the delightful Oedipus Rex, the play that delves into the concepts of fate versus free will. Oedipus, in an attempt to escape his fate, runs directly into the arms of fate itself. His actions had been predestined. His choices were not entirely his own-- they were a product of his destiny.

It's all a bit mind-blowing, really. Can you truly imagine that every one of your actions has been planned-- that you have been fated to do what you do, to make the choices you have made? It's unnerving to even speculate that my control over my life can be questioned. If we all truly have a fate, there is nothing that we can do to evade it. Any tries to do so, like Oedipus, will only fulfill our fates. Everything comes full circle.

But does it really matter?

Suppose we all had predestined fates. Maybe things are different in Oedipus's world, where people could consult oracles who would accurately decipher their fates. But this is the real world. There are no magically gifted clairvoyants to say what the future holds (I guess this could be debatable, but I suppose I am a skeptic of the superstitious. And I feel like the majority would agree with me). There is no way of truly knowing our fates. The truth is that it doesn't matter-- people will go on living their lives, making choices as if they did have free will, and they will never know that their choices were of any other origin than their own selves.

Maybe believing in a fate can result in peace of mind. Thinking that the events of life are out of conscious control eliminates the "what if?" mentality and the regret that accompanies that. So many people constantly stick to the mantra, "Everything happens for a reason," and perhaps for good reason. Whether or not it's true, there's an optimism to it that everyone likes. Everyone needs a little optimism.

Do you have a fate? You can decide.