Destiny - 2nd View

Destiny, a phenomenon not-often discussed / challenged but one which is strongly felt within each individual, each day. There are two views that I keep on hearing:

1. Things are destined (or pre-destined) and hence one gets what is destined in his/her life - And that is why despite best of efforts, when the results are not favourable, it is because it is not destined - interesting & popular


2. Destiny can be changed, by effort - 'karam say kismat likhee aur badlee jaa saaktee hai' - equally interesting but not a popular opinion :)

In my little experience, I don't know anyone personally, who has ever voiced the 2nd opinion & I fail to understand why :) I am not even talking about believing it but openly discussing in conversations. Among the more famour personalities, I only recall Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who has voiced the 2nd view (I am sure there are going to be more personalities like Dr. Kalam :))

The important question is - which view should one hold, believe in?

I want to believe in the 2nd view - Destiny Can Be Changed By Effort. And I have my own reasons for doing so.

# Simply put, this view makes sense - it is a positive statement, which if followed, can be a continuous source of both confidence & courage. Even if one believes in the first one, he/she continues to put in effort chasing goals / dreams and hence implicitly following the 2nd one - though he/she will never accept it :)

# Even if real stories that prove the 2nd view are few, they are looked forward with much more zeal & enthusiasm - another indication that how desperately (allow me to use this word) human beings want to believe in the 2nd view. Real stories - an extremely poor boy going on to become India's President, - few individuals (like Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Bose) bringing the king (British) down, - cancer patients recovering from last stage, - richest of people contributing to philanthropy, - a middle class man from a developing country going on to becoming amongst the most richest in the world (Mr. Senior Ambani) and so on, tell the story of those few individuals who always had the highest amount of self-belief and somewhere refused the mediocre view that everything is pre-destined :)

# If you think carefully, you will realise life is all about choices. Your love for your parents, your desire to stay in your own country and not go abroad, the life partner you chose, the car you drive, the career you chose, the level of success / failure you get in your life is all because of decisions & actions you took. Somewhere I believe (and with due respect to everyone) opportunities are more or less same & equal for everyone & hence it all depends how much self-belief & patience you have & I believe both come from an unshakeable level of confidence in one's own potential & nothing more - no destiny, no luck & no superstition will help (by the way, I don't mean to equate destiny with luck or superstition). Of course, you have complete right and duty to believe in God, like I do, apart from believing in yourself - after all, there are famous adages - 'God Help Those, Who Help Themselves' / 'Harkat Mein Hee, Barkat Hai Khuda Kee' :)

# If still not convinced, ask yourself - what would you like to tell your family / your kids, your bosses / team at office, your venture partners - that 'Everything is possible, Don't give up' OR 'See if it doesn't work out, you can leave it & move on' (or something similar) :)

# I believe that realising only few things in life deserve that special effort from you as only few have the power to change the course of life, will help see the 2nd view clearly - after all, aspects which can make your day special deserve special confidence & effort :)

# And lastly, have faith in self-fulfilling prophecy - the more you believe in 2nd view, higher the probability of it to come true (show results) & more inspiring your day will end :)

So, are you convinced to believe in the 2nd view? If still not, I hope one day you do :)

Shukriya :)