Fate
and Destiny
Fate:
The development of events beyond a person’s control.
Destiny:
Events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing.
I listened to one of
Caroline Myss’ videos this morning—on the topic of fate and destiny. We are a
species that continues to ask big questions, such as, “For what purpose was I
born?” and, “What is my calling?” We constantly search for meaning in
everything that happens to us. I suppose there are human beings who don’t
wonder about these things, but I am not one of them. There is always a question
hanging out there for me—what now? What am I to do now? I wonder whether you
ask that question, too.
Since it is a mystical question—asked
of God, or heaven, or whatever you hold as a higher power—the answers will come
from that realm. They are what Jung would call “archetypal patterns.” According
to Caroline Myss, our fate happens regardless of our natural abilities—our intelligence,
our position in society, our genetic encoding. It happens when we relinquish
control over our situation—or better put, our illusion of control. Right now,
we are wrestling with the question of whether to continue to shelter in place
or go about our lives as though there is no pandemic. Since the pandemic falls
under the category of “fate,” we cannot control it, so it requires from us a
choice—go out, or continue to stay in. I think it is fair to say that most of
us are ambivalent at best.
The ancients believed that
a person’s fate was determined by three goddesses: Clotho, Lachesis, and
Atropos. Clotho spins the thread of a human life, Lachesis measures it out, and
Atropos cuts it. According to Myss, we surrender to fate when we decide that we
are helpless in the face of a circumstance; that it has power over us to
determine outcome. Destiny, on the other hand, is when we decide not to be
helpless. Destiny is determined by our ability to adapt, or what behavioral
researchers call our “grit.” When we take the fate of a pandemic, for example,
and decide that we will move through it, and not be overcome by it, we are
determining our destiny. It takes faith, which, as we know, is a mystical force,
so it falls into the territory of the soul. Once we decide that our destiny is
not to collapse under the weight of our fate, all the forces of nature, the
universe, and all our metaphysical allies, line up to help.
We see this every day. A
good example is Trevor Noah, who was born to a single mother in South Africa
during Apartheid. They were poor, had no idea how they would get by day to day,
but that didn’t stop the mother from making certain that Trevor was fed, educated
and cared for even when she herself had to go without to do it. Fate had placed
them where they were, at a particular time, and in a certain circumstance, but
they did not collapse in the face of it. Now Noah is supporting his furloughed staff
through the pandemic from his own resources. He and his ally mother determined his
destiny. And when any person steps up and steps into his/her destiny, it
matters to all of us. It weaves wholeness into the fabric of the human race.
Fate has visited this
pandemic upon the earth. Now it is up to us to determine our destiny in the
face of it.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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