Fate v. Free Will

Fate versus Free Will is such a tricky chicken-or-the-egg thing. Think too hard about which came first, or which one "wins" and you start to feel dizzy. I personally believe its an "and" thing rather than an "or" choice, but that's how I lean toward most things...so take that as you will.

Life is like a Choose Your Own Adventure Book. There are a few different outcomes and plenty of different opportunities to get to any given one of them..but there are also those chapters that end with the "what would you do?" question and then you see what happens next.

Have you ever wondered how you got to where you are? What was the one pivotal decision that led you to your current reality? That, "If I hadn't gone to the beach that day, I wouldn't have met Kristen. If I hadn't met Kristen I wouldn't have gotten involved in the drama club. If I hadn't gotten involved in drama club, I wouldn't have..." and it just goes on from there. But does it even start before that? Are there other pivotal moments after that? Hell yes to both…or at least I cryin' out loud hope so. All the choices you make in your life have led you to the place you are now and the choices you make from this moment forward lead you to the next phase. Every minute is a fresh start if you want it to be.

As far as "Everything happens for a reason" (one of my favorite mantras by the way) you can't take a back seat when you say that, (if you're talking about your own life I mean). When you say that from the back seat, you may as well say, "It was God's will," which is such a fucking bullshit cop out. That type of attitude is why I can barely tolerate almost every vocal "Christian" I meet. Take some fucking responsibility for your situation. Don't place all the blame or praise on someone else for Christ's sake. You are ultimately the one to praise or blame period

"Everything happens for a reason" should be preceded by "I chose this." and followed by "What the fuck am I supposed to be learning from it?"

See, my mom always said everything happens for a reason...but she also said, "Feel it. Learn from it. Move on." That's some powerful thinking if you do it right. That's the kind of thinking that will move you forward to the next level personally, spiritually, incarnationally (if that's even a word) and so forth.