I’ve been contemplating the concept of destiny a whole lot lately.  Think about it.  Is there such a thing as destiny?  Because if there is, it’s all or nothing.  You can’t halfway believe in destiny.  I find it hard to believe sometimes that every single thing in life is planned out, because just like many people have said, that means I’m not in control of my own life, doesn’t it?  If there is such a thing as destiny, then either God is controlling everything, or your life was planned out by something or someone.  That’s a very deep thought.  I used to believe in destiny, but now I’m questioning that.  Just as I said in an earlier post, we sometimes confuse emotion for God, and I believe the same goes for destiny.  I think that sometimes when we get on those emotional highs, we think that things couldn’t happen any other way.  I remember feeling this way about quite a few times in my life.  Either the way I felt about someone, or some situation, I thought to myself, this has to be predestined.

So let’s say that you believe God is in control of your destiny.  He controls everything that happens.  Well if this is the case, then why do we pray?  I’ve touched on this topic before, but nothing in-depth.  Still considering that you believe in destiny, lets say that you’re destined to marry one particular person.  Ok, well if it is destiny, do you have to do anything, or could you sit on your ass the rest of your life and wait for it to happen?  A lot of people will say, well you can’t just sit around, but if you are a full believer in destiny, then it shouldn’t matter.  No matter what you do, you believe you will end up with that person.  That’s one reason I wonder a lot about it.  If you’re familiar with the television show “Lost,” there are two characters that are polar opposites on this belief.  John Locke and Jack Shephard.  John believes in destiny.  He believes that every single thing that happens has a meaning, a purpose, and a reason.  But to Jack, everything is just happenstance.  It’s science, it’s just how things play out.  I want you to ask yourself, which one are you?

Ever read the story of Oedipus?  That story is absolutely incredible to me.  To summarize it, in Greek mythology, Oedipus was a king who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother.  There is much more to the story, but I will be discussing only this part.  As a young man, he received a prophecy from an oracle, stating that he would kill his father and marry his mother.  Fearing this prophecy, he left his home and moved far away.  Well to make a long story short, he fulfilled this prophecy by trying his absolute best to avoid it.  So taking a deeper look at this, what exactly does it mean?  It reminds me so much of an old french proverb that says: One meets his destiny often in the road he takes to avoid it.  Exactly the same principle if you think about it.  Oedipus tries to hard not to fulfill this prophecy, he runs away.  Almost like he is fleeing from his destiny.  So that brings us to the concept of destiny.  Is destiny real?  Destiny is basically your fate.  Do you have a predetermined path?  And if you do, would you want to hear it?

Analyzing the Oedipus situation a little deeper, you have to wonder if he would have fulfilled that prophecy in another way had the oracle not warned him.  This is called a self-fulfilling prophecy.  A 20th century sociologist named Robert Merton actually coined that term.  Dare I go back to the movie “The Matrix” for a comparison and example of another self-fulfilling prophecy?  If you’ve seen it, you’ll definitely remember this scene:

The Oracle: I’d ask you to sit down, but you’re not going to anyway. And don’t worry about the vase.
Neo: What vase?
[Neo knocks a vase to the floor]
The Oracle: That vase.
Neo: I’m sorry.
The Oracle: I said don’t worry about it. I’ll get one of my kids to fix it.
Neo: How did you know?
The Oracle: What’s really going to bake your noodle later on is, would you still have broken it if I hadn’t said anything.

Another picture perfect example of a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Had she not said anything, Neo wouldn’t have knocked down that vase.  She even hints at it on her last statement about it.  You have to wonder if the creators had the story of Oedipus in mind when they wrote “The Oracle” into the movie.  To me, scenes like that are my absolute favorite.  They boggle you, they make you think.  As a human, I think we almost like not being able to figure things out.  I think that is one thing that drives us in life.  In my opinion, we encounter self-fulfilled prophecies like this every single day in our lives.  A good day versus a bad day simply depends on someone’s point of view on the situation.  A person who thinks he/she is having a terrible day for example, could run out of fuel and be forced to hitch a ride with his/her neighbor or a friend, or even take the train.  Most likely, this person’s day will only get worse as it progresses, because this situation in their mind, is a series of bad occurrences before they day has even begun.  For an example, snapping at his/her coworker, resulting in being scolded by his/her boss, or even possibly being fired.  But to look at the flip side, if that person was optimistic about the situation, he/she could take the bus, possibly meet a person that they had never seen, that turned out to be someone that opened a HUGE door for them (possibly a business opportunity, etc…) and become rich off  the deal, whereas a pessimistic person wouldn’t have bothered speaking simply because they assumed their day couldn’t get any worse.  So comparing the two situations, which would you rather?  Being fired, or coming across a huge opportunity?  I believe we make our own beds in life.  Things that happen to us depend on our attitude, and how we treat people.  A very inspiring thought indeed.  I believe the story of Oedipus can teach us many things, but the main thing would be to live life without looking back, and without fear, because when it boils down to it, life is pretty short in the scheme of things.

What is real? Ahh yes philosophy, such a fun topic to post on, and its been quite a while, so here’s a stab at a post. What is real? How can we know that what we are experiencing truly is “real?” You’re probably thinking to yourself, dang Kelsey you’ve seen The Matrix one too many times, but no really, bear with me. How do you know I am real? How do I know you are real? I absolutely love the book Simulation & Simulacra by Jean Baudrillard. If you haven’t read it, read it. It’s very interesting. Of course many people shun away from things like that due to fear of the unknown, but on the contrary I love exploring new ideas and philosophical thoughts. Basically, the book tries to define reality, and how we perceive things. It discusses the possibility that each and every thing that we encounter in life is nothing more than our minds creating it, and no one nor no single thing is real. There is no logical proof against that argument. You can say, well Kelsey I know I’m real, and can try to convince me that you are, but how do I know that’s not simply my mind creating that. Haha, many of you are probably thinking, this guys gone off the deep end. Nah, I’m not crazy, I’m just challenging you. That’s how philosophy was born. Simple ideas like that. It’s very controversial, but I find it very interesting.The Matrix can give us insight on so much in life. I absolutely love movies that I can view and take so many different points of view on. For example, the philosophical views of The Matrix can be observed, but also the religious views can as well. Excellent film. The question is, do you think that something like that is possible? Is it possible that we are all being deceived, and are all in tubes somewhere and don’t control our real life whatsoever? Sure it’s possible; nothing should be ruled out in my opinion.

That reminds me of a girl that I used to work with. She was so faithful and loved God so much, and I admire that. But I challenged her one day; I said, “Have you ever considered the possibility that there is no God, and there is no life after death whatsoever?” And she got offended. Now before I continue, I just want to state that I do believe in God, and believe that He exists. I was simply challenging her mind. I think that’s very healthy. I think it’s very healthy to wonder, and question our beliefs. I believe it makes us stronger in the end. But to get back to the conversation I was having with her, she said, “Well of course I know He exists, I can see him everywhere.” So I asked in return, “Where?” And she responded, “The wind blows, we can’t see it, but it’s there” So I took it a step further, and asked her what if she would have been raised in a Buddhist environment, brought up believing in Buddha, and meditation, etc… Well eventually it came down to her stomping out of the room getting offended. That wasn’t really my goal though. I just wanted to challenge her. You know that’s an inspirational thing for us all to do. Why do you believe what you do? What makes you a believer? Is it because you were taught to be? Is it because you have felt that void in the past? I’ll be honest, there have been times in my life where I drifted away from God, and did my own thing, and I always feel a void when that happens. I feel like there is something that needs to be there that isn’t. That’s why I believe. That’s all there is to it. So I challenge you, why do you believe what you believe? Or why is there a lack of belief in your life? What has caused that? Is it what you really believe, and do you feel right about it? Are you comfortable where you are in your life?