Destiny

[sailor stardust]

What a coinkidink~!!My teacher made us do this worksheet about fate/destiny.And it's because we'll be reading the Monkey's Paw~!!Anyways,I do belive in destiny.I belive every single little thing in your life is meant to happen.There's a REASON it happened.I've always felt that way.Why?Don't know....

[Pastbyer]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by AnimeLover [/i]
[B][color=red] I think destiny is there, but only leads us into different directions, reasserting our position in life. It doesn't [i]control[/i] how this or that will turn out, it only defines it. Defines it in that it shows you a path, if you take it, that's your choice, if you don't, that's also your choice. So yes we all have a destiny to an extent, but eventually we break from our set roads and go into something different, something else than the path chose for us. [/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=indigo]I couldn't have put it any better. Fate shows us the choices, but we get to choose.

Destiny really has no meaning because it's too broad. Kinda like the word 'random'.

But coincidences... Well, they're part of destiny too. They show us things we never noticed before. So maybe sailor stardust's coincidence is meant to mean something...

I'm confused now. (Don't worry it's quite normal.)[/color]

[KittyLynn]

I believe in Destiny to a certain point, I believe things happen for a reason and destiny does happen, its like a miracle, they can happen....

[Jeebs]

I had to read "The Monkey's Paw" last year in Language Arts.

I sort of believe in destiny. I don't believe in God or anything. I believe that there are countless worlds where we make different decisions. Like in Amphion's example; there is one world where you choose Fruit Loops, and another world where you choose Lucky Charms.

[Jesus Chicken]

Well, I'm going to quote a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon and just say this. "I believe in destiny, it's alot more fun to have something to blame."

[Dan L]

I believe that God creates a destiny specifically for us, perhaps even one which we don't expect. But it's up to us whether or not we go along the road to that destiny. Ultimately, to get to where we should be in the future, we need to be where we should be now, and if we're not willing to make any sacrifices involved in that choice, we will never get to where God wants us.

[Utena_Tenjou]

I do beleive that we can control our own destiny, what happens depends on the choices we make right?

But I also believe god has a specific plan for all of us, like when we die, ect.

I've heard the story of the monkey's paw many times on Tales from the Gate Keeper and the parody simpsons version...they might not be excaclty alike but you get an idea.

[vegeta rocker]

depends. I believe everything happens for a reason. But i always think of it this way, you might have no choice in where youre going, but you ALWAYS have a choice in how you get there. Thats my personal view.

[Bunni_Chan]

I do not beleive in destiny, I beleive in fate. Our "destiny" would be our exact life layed out before us, with a definite end in mind and no way of changing it. Fate, i believe, is various events that were meant to happen, events that present us with choices and the choices we make determine our destiny. Such as it might be fate that a certain boy meets a certain girl but whether or not he chooses to date this girl will determine his destiny. So we are in control of our destiny, which i define as the end of the road and where you end up.

[Dan L]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Bunni_Chan [/i]
[B]I do not beleive in destiny, I beleive in fate. Our "destiny" would be our exact life layed out before us, with a definite end in mind and no way of changing it. Fate, i believe, is various events that were meant to happen, events that present us with choices and the choices we make determine our destiny. Such as it might be fate that a certain boy meets a certain girl but whether or not he chooses to date this girl will determine his destiny. So we are in control of our destiny, which i define as the end of the road and where you end up. [/B][/QUOTE]

I kind of agree with you there.. though there are lots of different words to describe it.. I've recently become Christian, so I believe that God can have a specific path for us, but we choose whether we travel it or not. I also believe that if you seriously pray for something, then things can happen to bring that about, even before you pray. Either because God can affect the past, or because God already knew what you would pray for. I have actually seen this happen, and I will tell you about it now. I haven't changed a single fact here, though whether you believe it or not is another matter:

This summer, I went to a Christian conference (I managed to get in at about 4 weeks notice on a team, despite that it was fully booked) with our family, and friends of my family. The family we went with recently lost the father due to cancer (about 6 months ago, so not that recent) and during one of the evening meetings I felt that one of the boys (he's 15, named Tim) felt very upset, and was reminded of his Dad, who was also a Christian. I felt God telling me to tell him that his Dad was OK, and was in heaven, but I thought it was a bit much to say in a crowded area (about 3000 people aged 14-19), so I just said 'I think God's telling me you might want prayer'. That night, me and my parents prayed that God would reach him.
The next morning, someone who didn't know him said in the morning meeting "God is telling me that there is a boy in here who recently lost his father. God wants him to know that his Dad is O.K. and in heaven". The thing is, this person received the message [i]3 days before[/i], when Tim wasn't actually there, as he arrived late. God told them to wait 3 days and then tell the message to everyone.

My points here are as follows:

1- For those who believe in God, it's fairly clear that God decided he wanted to reach Tim at this point, so we would say that it was ordained to happen (essentially the same as destined to happen).

For those open-minded enough to accept the possibility that God exists, it should be fairly clear that either something's going on that we don't understand, or perhaps it was a huge coincedence, but a very unlikely one.

For those who dismiss the possibility that a God of any kind exists, it seems fairly clear that either it was a huge coincedence, or you probably just think I'm lying. Or perhaps you've changed your opinion, but knowing how stubborn I used to be, I doubt it.



2- This also illustrates a little about the personal choice in destiny. We chose to pray that night that something would happen, and it did. I don't know if it would have happened if we didn't pray, because we did, so I won't bother going into that. But, if that guy who received the message chose to ignore it, Tim would never have got it. So, if God did decide to try to reach Tim, then the personal choices of me and that other guy (I don't know his name or anything else about him except Tim didn't know him) both affected the plan God had for that day.

So.. that's my view on destiny, from personal experience.

[Jesus Chicken]

Ok, I'm going to be slightly honest, and give a serious answer now.
I don't belive in destiny, nor do I believe in God, well not a God that has been defined by any religion I am familiar with. I belive in a higher power, something both good and evil, and nuetral, all at the same time. There is always good and bad happenning and there is always something that is in the middle.
We make our lives through our decisions. I'll use war as an example.
If we didn't have war, many things would be changed, there would be fewer developments in the field of weaponary, becuase we wouldn't need it. The fact that we didn't have war then sets off other things, that may or may not happen.
We don't know. I know some people that believe they were destined for each other. Once again, I disagree, everyone is unique, but only to a degree. They could have found someone else, just like the person they are in love with now, and fallen in love with them. But through the choices, they have made, they have met that particular person.
Destiny, no, sorry. It's all down to us.

[Imp]

Destiny means everything to me!!! You bet I believe in it!!! Well, Deus, I agree with you and Bunni_Chan! If you pray for something, you really might get your wish... I'm no Christian, (I have a religion of my own) but you just never know what will happen. For example, God (I'm not referring to the Christian God) once told me that when... Oops! :whoops: God told me to keep that a secret!!! I'm not supposed to tell you! (starts praying) Don't worry, I will always believe in magic, destiny, and most importantly, [COLOR=deeppink]BUNNIES!!![/COLOR] :laugh::blulaugh::bellylol::rotflmao:

[James]

[color=royalblue]It depends what you mean by destiny. Destiny implies that we have a specific course mapped out for us. Unfortunately, there's simply no proof to back that up.

Sure, there is anecdotal evidence out there. But you can use that type of evidence to prove that someone walked on water or crushed a car with their bare hands (if someone says they saw it, then it's anecdotal evidence...regardless of how dillusional they are).

I don't believe in destiny, because it there are just so many basic elements of life that do not coincide with that idea. But having said that, I think there are some aspects of "destiny" that affect people.

For example, if you have a particular talent...(say, you play the guitar or something), one might say that it is your destiny to be a great guitarist. It's not that you are preordained to do this, it's simply that the aforementioned path is the most logical for you.

I mean, if I ever become a video game designer, it would be tempting to sit back and say "well, this is my destiny". But that wouldn't really be true. I'd only be there because I showed an active interest in that area and pursued that course of action.

Of course, different things can happen in your life...coincidences can happen and circumstances beyond your control can shape what happens in your life. But really, frankly, there's no way to back up that this is "destiny". It really comes down to whether or not you believe in things that aren't proven, or whether you have a certain definition of destiny.

Remember, it's not necessarily the same thing for every person.[/color]

[amibasuki]

[FONT=arial]let's see if I can make myself make sense. okay, the way that I look at 'destiny' is that we have certain opportunities to be introduced to things or have things happen to us, but it's up to us whether or not we take advantage of them or not. for example, say there are these two people that are 'destined' to be together; I think that during the course of their lives they'd have an opportunity to meet each other. but as to whether or not anything would come out of their meeting each other is up to them. so yeah, I do believe in destiny, to an extent, but that ultimately it's up to us to make destiny work. or something like that....[/FONT]