It seems the debate over how much of our life is predestined (aka fate) or in our control (aka destiny) has been going on since mankind existed. It was a thematic topic in the modern movie classic Serendipity (one of my all time favorite films by the way).

Some people seem to think this is a religious matter. I don’t necessarily think it should be limited just as such. The belief in fate could be a spiritual matter as it is like surrendering control to some “higher power” knowing we do not have control of every aspect of our lives.

Anyone that has tried to do things without having faith or believing in a higher power knows how frustrating it is when we do everything in our power to make things work but encounter not only speed bumps, but dead ends – including those with signs before reaching the edge of the cliff. It’s frustrating when people let us down. It’s even more frustrating when we loose faith in ourselves.

And on the other hand, it’s frustrating for people that believe in “God,” when that “God” seems to “fail” or disappoint them. This is a whole other matter as there is something to be said about these people’s “faith” in the first place.

However, before I go on any further, let’s take a look at some modern day comments about what people think is the difference between fate and destiny that may be found on the Internet:

well wisher: “I guess fate are the little things/events in life that’s just supposed to happen. For me, its an actual intervention of God/”the ultimate force” which helps us choose our own destiny which is what we become in the end. So fate is just a hepling hand from “?” while our destiny lies in us.”
www.answers.yahoo.com

Cerberus™: “There is not much difference, except that ‘fate’ sometimes (not always!) means ‘a bad fate’, ‘death’. ‘To meet your fate’ usually means ‘to die’. Destiny is always neutral.”
www.english-test.net

Nicodemus: “There’s a huge difference between fate and faith. Faith is the belief in something, without evidence to support it. Fate, as the greeks believed it, is something you can’t escape. Fate is a destiny that you will fulfill no matter how you strive against it. Shakespeare believed that fate was something you could change, your destiny was as you made it. However you see it though, fate and faith are not the same thing. You can have faith IN fate, or perhaps there could be certain connotations with the fate of someone TOO faithful. I digress, but believe me there’s a difference.”
www.collegenet.com

Ever since I can remember, I have often wondered how this translated into percentages. The respective percentages of 50% and 50% seemed most reasonable. However, I recall feeling I wasn’t doing enough to have the kind of life I wanted, so I started increasing that percentage, believing I’d be responsible for 75% or 65% of what happened in my life. Although this seemed to me like I was taking onus of my life, I still felt that percentage just wasn’t right. Delays, conflicts, and what seemed like pretty much everything that could possibly go wrong would, and it would happen more frequently (if you can believe that), leading me to become even more frustrated.

Although I, along with my friends, consider myself to be quite spiritual, my faith has definitely been “tested” as some would say. It is challenging to believe in something that is not physically tangible. Although that “physicality” could be the feeling you get in your gut when “spirit” (God’s, a higher power, yours, etc.) is trying to guide you.

Several weeks ago during meditation, I had this epiphany that these percentages are more comparable to the profit percentages of the music publishing business. There are two 100% “pies”: 100% of a pie for the publisher, and 100% of a pie for the songwriter.

Here are some articles about these songwriting splits:
http://law.freeadvice.com
http://books.google.com

So now I’m exploring and journeying on with the belief that I am responsible for 100% of my life, and God, the Universe, higher power, et. al has the other pie of 100% “fate.”

If you have any thoughts about this theory, especially if you have experimented with this belief in any way, percentages or not, feel free to share.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

www.TraciToguchi.com