Life Is A Box Of Chocolates... Or Is It?

I recently had a brief dialogue with someone who doesn't believe in the concept of destiny. As someone who believes that everything happens for a reason, one would think that it is only intuitive for me to scream bloody murder at him until gray matter oozes out of his ears. However, I sat there intrigued with his argument. How can one deny the concept of destiny?

His argument reminded me greatly of Neo's answer in The Matrix as he himself declared that he doesn't believe in fate. He said that he likes to think that everything is up to him and that his future is entirely in his hands -- that he basically has complete control over it.

Valid argument, yes.

Then he mentioned that God's best gift to man was free will. And because of free will, we are given the freedom to choose whatever path we wish to take. I felt my ears perk up at the mention of God's name.

I asked, "So, you believe in God?"

"Of course," he answered. I just had to make sure. These days, one can never know.

"Isn't it that God already has a plan for us? Well, at least that's how we are taught," I rebutted. "Where does it fit in that we are in total control of our lives if He already knows what will happen to us in the end?"

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that God was pretty damn generous to grant us all free will. But this is how I see it: God gave us free will so that we can make our own choices and perhaps even to make our own mistakes to learn from. And even if He has given us this much power over our lives, He is still pretty involved in steering us towards the right direction. I like thinking that we embark on a journey towards our destinies -- it's just that our adventures vary depending on which roads and turns we take.

Believing in destiny doesn't mean that we have to leave everything up to God or the Universe (whichever we believe in). And it doesn't mean that we can simply sit by the beach sipping a cocktail while we wait for the sky to drop destiny on our laps. Life still goes on. We are still the sculptors of our own life statues -- but I cannot deny the existence of a greater master that guides us on the creation of our works of art.

My concept of destiny is largely intertwined with my belief in God and His masterplan. I feel that I will have a difficult time coping with disappointments and failures if not for it. Whenever I stumble, I pick myself up with the thought that it must have happened for a reason. It must have happened to pave for something bigger and better to come through. The idea makes me plow forward with heart and spirit.

I do respect his preference for not believing in destiny. But I think that to a certain extent, he believes in it -- just not in the conventional sense. And it's not wrong at all. God did give us free will to exercise and for this power, we thank Him everyday.

Forrest Gump teaches us that "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get." However, even though we may not know what we're going to get, surely, someone with a plan has handpicked all those chocolates to put in our boxes. They are all carefully tailored just for us.

And it's our job to find out why.