“When you are calm and stable, careful of attention, the celestial design is always clear, open awareness is unobscured; then you have autonomy in action and can deal with whatever arises.”
~ The Book of Balance and Harmony
Sometimes you have to make difficult choices.
There arise times in everyone’s life when a decision of great importance must be made, a decision that has consequences that will reach far beyond the foresight of even the wisest of us, a decision that will change life forever.
I don’t know about you, but I still don’t know how to deal with those choices.
I believe in Destiny, that each one of us has a purpose to fulfill and that our purpose will be revealed through everyday life if we remain open and aware of our surroundings and the opportunities that present themselves to us each day. So when it comes down to these difficult choices, I find myself refusing to make a decision to pursue one path over another, believing that what is meant to be simply will be if I allow events to take their natural course. I hesitate to interfere in what I see as an organic process that will reveal the right path – my destiny – if I accept circumstances as they unfold.
It’s been working for me so far. The question I find myself asking is whether it really is the right way of going about things, or if I’ve just developed an elegant and ‘enlightened’ way to avoid making any real decisions.
How do I decide what to do while still allowing Destiny to run its course? How can I actively make a choice without trying to be the master of my fate, while still embracing uncertainty?
There is a balance to be found here, I’m sure… but I can’t see it. Maybe this is another of life’s many paradoxes, an unanswerable question of how to exercise free will while accepting the forces of destiny, of how to take control without taking control. Perhaps it comes back to maintaining a state of no-attachment, of making a choice without holding any expectations for a desired outcome.
Perhaps not.
I guess the only answer I really have right now is to simply live life to its fullest, and to learn – and laugh – when I make mistakes. Maybe I’ll find that balance through trial and error.
Maybe I won’t – but I’ll have a wonderful time trying.
And maybe that’s exactly how my destiny will be revealed.
2 comments:
Well, this is an interesting question. If we are all destined to one end or another...no matter what or how the choice it made, we'll come to the 'right' end. Which, as you mentioned, does kind of defeat the purpose of the choice in the first place.
I guess it would boil down to how absolute you think Destiny is. Does it govern everything in your life? You were destined to have cereal and coffee this morning, tonight is bowling night, etc. Or...is it more free flowing than that, with a goal in mind, but not a specific path? You will be Prime Minister in 20 years. But how you get there will affect what kind of PM you will be.
One allows you to coast through life, assuming that it's safe to make no decisions as everything is already accounted for...but there's no free will there.
The second makes you take control of your life, if you want to. It knows where you will end up, but the path you take to get there matters, and is your choice.
Thanks for your thought-provoking insights! The next entry is due in no small part to you, my friend, for spurring me on to this path of thought... I just need some time to get it all written down. Check back soon!
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