Joseph Lewis D’Silva
Destiny is future happening. It is something we create unconsciously or consciously with our present habits; alternatively, it is set before us by friends and relatives which we accept.
Some say that destiny is in our hands as everything happens as per our choice, with our ability of examining the situations; imagining future happening and distinguishing between right and wrong.
For example, on Goan-roads, we see persons driving their cars in a drunken state, at a high speed, as if the devil is after them; or they after the devil; and end in a crash. Such accidents are not caused by destiny but by one’s stubborn pleasure frame of mind. If one had not driven one’s car, after getting drunk, such a casualty would not have come to pass. So, to drink or not to drink is entirely in one’s hands.
A few say that destiny is not only under our control but also in the hands of others. Take a sober driver, driving carefully with all precautions and still meets with an accident on bad road which were constructed by greedy men with profit motive; ignoring personal responsibility; silencing their conscience with selfish reasons. Can we say that such accident is caused by will of Heaven? Doesn’t the blood of skillful drivers lie in the hands of greedy contractors who made faulty roads?
Similarly, a person who is stuck in ideas which are put in his mind by friends and relatives gets influenced by ‘social conditioning’ and gets trapped in wrong directions and ends in miserable fate, due to interaction of societal suggestions and one’s acceptance; here again, we cannot say it is God’s will but it is the motivation of others.
Again, take the case of a second sober driver, in spite of observing all precautions, falls down the mountain, due to landslide and meets with an accident. Here again, we cannot say that it was destined by God. Such happening are due to the ups and downs of the land which is often called ‘frowns of fortune’. But it cannot be due to God as He preordained people to salvation.
Just because God is all powerful; and knows everything in advance; many put the blame on God for adverse destiny. God knows things in advance like a man on top of a mountain who can see a climber taking a steep climb leading to a ditch and knows that he would fall in it. So, just because
He can see the climber taking a path with free will does not make God responsible for seeing the climber’s destiny of falling in a ditch. God does not directly cause suffering but allows human to use their free will and the flow of natural course of life.
Dr Abdul Kalam rightly said, “You cannot change your future, but you can change your habits and surely your habits will change your future destiny.”
In conclusion, I must say that destiny is not a force beyond our control, nor it is solely preordained. It is shaped by
the choices we make, the habits we cultivate and the external factors we allow to influence us.