fate master of

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“I shall seize fate by the throat.”

Ludwig van Beethoven

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“Destiny is for losers.

It’s just a stupid excuse to wait for things to happen instead of making them happen.”

Blair Waldorf

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Today I will use Beethoven and Blair <from Gossip Girl> to make a point. Whoa. Whoda thunk Gossip Girl and Beethoven would be used together to make a thoughtful point.

Anyway.

Fate & destiny.

It’s easy to think of these things as some invisible hand guiding our direction in life. It is equally easy to think of these things as out of your control. Let’s just say it is as easy to think of controlling as much as you can as it is to think the world is so complex you cannot control shit. It is sometimes difficult to see links to anything and even coincidence can be baffling.

Personally?

I like the thought that we have some destiny, some fate, awaiting us. That there is some reason for being here.

Every.

Single.

One.

Of.

Us.

The struggle I imagine I have in my head with destiny and fate is the thought of permitting something theoretical like ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’ to take me by the hand and lead me somewhere doesn’t sit well with me. I also imagine that part of Life is figuring all this shit out.

And, frankly, I don’t think I am unusual in this type of thinking.

We have a tendency to use terms like fate & destiny in hindsight: ‘it was fate’ … or … ‘it was my <or his or her> destiny.’

And when you recognize that hindsight is the only way to actually see something like fate or destiny you really have nowhere else to go, thought-wise, then to keep moving and not waiting. You end up there because hindsight, if you squint hard enough, will tend to show you some causal aspects. They may not be completely linear but you will spot some decisions, actions, etc., that can easily be seen as contributing toward that fate or destiny.

Look.

You can wait.

Or.

You can do.

You can permit fate, or what ‘is supposed to be’, dictate your future as it deems to design for you.

Or

You can seize fate by the throat and refuse to let that particular destiny exist and attempt to replace it with something of your own design.

Let me be clear.

Life is sometimes meant to be battled, wrestled and yes, even grabbed by its throat, to get what you want out of it. Sometimes you have to be stubborn and always you have to be at minimum an active participant — and at maximum you have to be an active combatant. I will admit. There are no guarantees even if you seize fate by its throat. But then again, there are no real guarantees in Life, so, what the hell. All I can guarantee is the outlines are vague, everything is connected with everything (so you may not see much direct ‘effect’ when you attempt to ’cause’ something to happen> and you most likely will have no idea whether all your ‘seizing’ was of any value until you can be a bit reflective. Well. That doesn’t sound so rewarding, does it?

So let’s try this Beethoven thought on for size:

 

Free me of only half this affliction and I shall be a complete, mature man. You must think of me as being as happy as it is possible to be on this earth – not unhappy. No! I cannot endure it. I will seize Fate by the throat. It will not wholly conquer me! Oh, how beautiful it is to live – and live a thousand times over!

Yeah. He seized fate by the throat, shook it mercilessly, and plunged into composing <the rest of his Life>.

 

“Ah, it seemed impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon me to produce.”

Beethoven

Not as eloquently put, Blair from Gossip girl simply suggests that destiny is for losers. That’s a bit harsh. I would suggest the probabilities of losing your dreams and good destiny increases if you let destiny play its own hand. Once again, seizing fate guarantees nothing, but increases the probabilities of a fate you desire.

Look. The world is fairly relentless at convincing most of us we are simply small fractions in the whole and that at best we may get 15 seconds, or 15 minutes, of some ‘fame’ which is our window of opportunity for destiny or fate to shine through. The truth is what Mary Parker Follett calls “the law of the situation.” The law of the situation is that the context, and environment, of any given situation dictates decisions & choices, not anything you may have planned. In other words, don’t seize a plan by the throat, seize situations by the throat. Yeah. Situations dictate destiny’s path. You can do no more, or less, by seizing the situation at hand, squeezing it by the throat, and doing what you can with what you have.

Here is what I know.

If you are eager to accomplish great deeds, shit, accomplish any deeds, then Fate sometimes needs to be seized by the throat.

Why does this matter? I imagine we all have to believe in some way we are here for a reason. I kind of think that ‘reason’ is where Fate or Destiny resides.

But it’s kind of up to you to figure out where that fate/destiny destination is.

Just a warning. Fate or destiny are quiet fellows. They tend to keep their thoughts to themselves. They will not tell you where they live nor will they tell you how to find them. you will never be able to sit them down and say ‘what is my fate?’ … ‘what is my destiny?’ … ‘tell me where to go’.

Sometimes you kind of have to reach out blindly, grab the sonuvabitches by the throat and say ‘here is my fate’ … this is my destiny.’

Trust me on this.

fate choosingIf you do that, fate or destiny, as they struggle for some air, will tell you if you are being stupid with what you are thinking or if you are on the right path.

I imagine it is an easier thought to think, theoretically, they are waiting somewhere for you to welcome you when you get there. And to think it would be a shitload easier if the bastards would actually tell us maybe even send a short email suggesting some things.

But they aren’t and they don’t. And will not.

I believe.

All of us.

You are here to accomplish something.

You are here to do something that will ‘echo into eternity’.

It may not be a 9th symphony.

It may not even be a moment in the spotlight as a Gossip Girl.

But.

You should refuse to settle for anything less than what you believe your reason to be here is.

In the end.

Beethoven did say it best.

“Fate shall certainly not bend and crush me completely.”

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Written by Bruce