People do like to blame others and want to compare themselves to others too. We should take responsibility and accept what happens in our lives. Sometimes it's not our fault, but we are collateral damage, say children in a divorce or if a parent dies. That wasn't the child's fault, but it was meant to be for whatever reason. It also depends on how you choose to view a situation, as poor me or I will learn from this and move on.
There is no such thing as coincidence. And I do believe ALMOST everything happens the way they're supposed to. Some things just happen because that's the type of world we live in now.
I think some things are meant to be, and others are not pre destined. I think in general life is pretty random. We can control a large part of what happens to us, but not everything certainly and some things are just beyond our control. It is just the way the world works.
The only part of our lives we do not control is who or where we are when we are born. We have free will within that box. Everything from that point on is up to us. So yes, I believe in fate but I believe that we make our own within that "box" we were born in that dictated who we are. So free will with a limit that determines the fate in our lives. If that makes any sense.
I'm not really sure about this but as you've said life is really curious, sometimes things that you've wanted/worked for don't happen but suddenly without planning it, something completely and even better that you were expecting happens... I think that they are just coincidences, I don't really believe in destiny.
In the running said: >>The only part of our lives we do not control is who or where we are when we are born. We have free will within that box. Everything from that point on is up to us. << I've been interested in the work of Dr Michael Newton, and his books "Journey of Souls" and "Destiny of Souls". Using a technique of hypnotic regression that he developed over many years, he was able to regress his patients to their former lives, as well as explore their time spent while BETWEEN lives. This is a time of study, reflection, socializing with other members of our soul group, and PLANNING our next life. Based on his research, we do indeed control where and when we are born, who our parents are, and who the other major players in our life will be....typically other members of our group that we reincarnate with, time after time. I encourage you to read his books, if you have an interest. They are life changing.
Not quite. Everyone you come in contact with has the potential of making you do something you don't want. The lives of humans are so intertwined that any one decision someone makes might affect everyone else in some way eventually and change the course of history. Free will IMHO is an illusion.
Well, the question is then, what influences your opinions? A combination of biology, and past experiences which ultimately mean you are not in control. I believe in determinism, even beyond the physical world, everything must have a cause.
There is a difference between "influencing" our choices and "controlling" us. Think of life as crossing a creek. You can step across on the rocks, and choose which rocks to step on...or you can wade across....or you can choose to simply not cross the creek. Everything that CAN happen already HAS happened. We experience the future as a matrix of potentials and probabilities, choosing whether to cross the stream, and which rocks to step upon. Every decision you make presents you with a different array of future choices. Yes, it's "cause and effect" combined with free will.
I have mixed feeling about this. It will sound funny when i say this but recently i have seen the show called Continuum and it was about time travelling. So sci-fi drama. But, there was a great idea about changing your future. A person came back from time to stop a young boy becoming what he is in her time. He started going towards that path but a lot of things happened and changed his path forever. It led him to a different future so i believe we have some kind of path but also that we could alter it and make it better. It is not predefined. it is like if you have talent to sing. So you are sure to be a singer but you start to love cooking even more and you become a chef although you were maybe destined to be a singer.