Destiny, Choice, and the Art of Living

"Everything happens for a reason." This phrase, widely shared in times of crisis and comfort alike, suggests a universe governed by purposeful design. But is it true? Are our lives charted by an invisible hand of destiny, or do we possess genuine agency through free will? This enduring question straddles philosophy, religion, science, and psychology. From ancient Greek tragedies to modern neuroscience, thinkers have wrestled with the paradox: if everything is preordained, are we merely puppets on strings? Conversely, if we have free will, why do so many events feel fated?

This bit of writing explores the philosophical underpinnings of destiny and free will, considers key historical and contemporary perspectives, presents real-life examples, and discusses their relevance in today's world. But before that “A story of three souls”. Through this journey, we aim to understand whether events in life truly follow a predetermined script or are written moment by moment through our choices.

 

The Threads of Time: A Story of Three Souls

Prologue: The Weaver’s Loom

In a place beyond time and space, the Weaver sat before a cosmic loom. She pulled threads—some golden, some dark, some shimmering with uncertainty—into tapestries that rippled through the universe.

“Is it I who weaves their fate,” she mused, “or do they choose the threads themselves?”

Beneath her fingers danced three lives: Aarav, Mira, and Dev. Each would come to ask the same question—“Does everything happen for a reason?”—but each would find their own answer.

 

Chapter 1: Aarav – The Believer in Destiny

Aarav was born on a rainy August morning in a quiet Indian village. His grandmother, a devout woman, whispered in his ears at birth: “You are destined for greatness. It is written in your stars.”

Aarav grew up under the weight of those words. He watched the monsoon clouds with reverence and read omens in everything—from a crow’s cry to the flicker of a temple flame. Every setback was “meant to be,” every success “preordained.” His life, he believed, unfolded just as the gods had planned.

When he was seventeen, he fell in love with Leela, a girl from another caste. Their affection bloomed in silence—in stolen glances during temple festivals, in shared books beneath neem trees. But society’s script was rigid. His father said, “It is not in your fate.” And so, Aarav let her go.

Years passed. Aarav became a teacher, then a headmaster. He often dreamed of what could have been. But when asked if he regretted it, he always replied, “It was destiny. Some things are not ours to choose.”

On his 60th birthday, sitting under the same neem tree, he told his grandson, “We are but actors in a divine play. Our lines are written, our roles assigned.”

But something in his eyes flickered—was it contentment or an unspoken doubt?

 

Chapter 2: Mira – The Architect of Her Future

Mira was born in New York City, the daughter of immigrants who believed in hard work and hustle. “Make your own luck,” her mother always said. “The stars don’t pay the rent.”

By sixteen, Mira had started two small businesses, joined the debate team, and began journaling her goals for the next ten years. Free will wasn’t a theory to her—it was the pulse of her being.

She believed deeply that choice defined identity. When she was offered a scholarship to study robotics in Tokyo, she leapt, despite fears and family disapproval. “It’s my life,” she said, “and I’ll build it.”

In Tokyo, Mira thrived—until the accident.

One icy morning, a car ran a red light. She woke up two days later in a hospital. Her legs were paralyzed. The doctors were uncertain if she would walk again.

For the first time, Mira felt a sense of betrayal—not from fate, but from herself. “Did I make a wrong choice?” she wondered. “Was this my doing?”

Months of rehab followed. Depression loomed. She hated the word “reason.” People kept saying, “This happened for a reason.” She rejected it. Pain wasn’t cosmic justice—it was chaos.

But slowly, she began coding again. With her voice. Then with her eyes, using assistive tech. She developed AI tools for differently-abled children. When asked in a TED talk if she believed everything happened for a reason, she smiled:

“No. But I believe you can give meaning to anything that happens.”

 

Chapter 3: Dev – The Seeker of Balance

Dev was a philosopher. Or so he thought, as he wandered from temple to mosque to monastery. Born in Kolkata to a Bengali atheist father and a spiritual mother, he grew up on a diet of contradictions.

In college, Dev read Spinoza and Sartre, chanted at Vipassana retreats, and practiced Stoic journaling. The tension between destiny and free will fascinated him. “Are we free?” he often asked his classmates. “Or do we just like the feeling of choosing?”

One day, Dev met a woman named Tara. She was a playwright who believed in signs. “If we meet again by accident,” she said, “we’re meant to be.”

They met again—at a train station, during a monsoon. They fell in love. But their love, like most lives, was messy. They lost a child. Dev’s father died. Tara had to move abroad for a fellowship. Dev faced the hardest choice: to follow or to stay back and care for his mother.

He chose to stay.

Their love stretched across oceans and years. Sometimes it thrived. Sometimes it ached. But through it all, Dev began to see life not as a matter of fate or freedom, but relationship—between what happens and how we respond.

He began writing a book titled “The Dance of Choice and Circumstance.”

In it, he wrote:

“We are not fully free, nor fully bound. We are co-creators. Life throws the clay. We shape the vessel.”

 

Chapter 4: When Worlds Collide

Aarav, now retired, traveled to Delhi for a conference on education. Mira, now a global advocate for inclusive tech, was one of the keynote speakers. Dev, whose book had just been published, moderated the session.

They met over tea afterward. Three generations, three philosophies.

Aarav listened to Mira speak of coding choices into machines, of resisting bias in data. He frowned, “You trust machines more than destiny?”

Mira smiled. “I trust people’s ability to rise above what they’re told is written.”

Dev interrupted, “But what if both are true? That there’s a script—but you can edit it as you go?”

Aarav said quietly, “Sometimes I wonder… if letting Leela go was my choice or fear wrapped as fate.”

Mira touched his hand gently. “And what would you tell your younger self, if you met him now?”

He sighed. “To love, even if the stars disapprove.”

They sat in silence. The clock ticked on. Outside, the sky darkened, as if inviting them to write a new chapter.

 

Chapter 5: The Moral of the Threads

In a village in Odisha, a child was born as the monsoon thundered outside. The midwife whispered, “A storm child. Must be special.”

Her name was Anaya, meaning “without a leader.” As she grew, she would hear stories—of Aarav’s surrender, Mira’s fight, and Dev’s questions. She would grow up wondering:

"Is my life a story being told to me… or one I get to write?”

Perhaps both.

One day, she found an old book—Dev’s book—dog-eared and dusty.

In the margins, someone had scribbled:
"When you cannot choose what happens, choose how you respond. That is freedom."

She closed her eyes, hearing the Weaver laugh in the wind.

 

Epilogue: The Loom Revisited

Back at her loom, the Weaver smiled.

She no longer tried to answer the question. Instead, she gave it to every soul to live. Some would call her Destiny. Others would defy her name. A few, like Dev, would ask better questions.

“Does everything happen for a reason?”
“Not always,” she said, pulling a golden thread, “but everything can lead to meaning… if you pay attention.”

And so the tapestry grew—not perfect, but full of choices, chances, and change.

Philosophical Foundations

1. Determinism and Destiny

Determinism is the idea that every event is necessitated by antecedent events and conditions together with the laws of nature. In this view, the future is as fixed as the past. Classical determinists like Baruch Spinoza and Pierre-Simon Laplace argued that if we knew the position and momentum of every atom in the universe, we could predict every future event.

This view closely aligns with the concept of destiny—a belief that a divine or natural order governs all happenings. In many Eastern and Western philosophies, destiny is seen as a script written by cosmic forces (e.g., karma in Hinduism and Buddhism, or divine providence in Christianity and Islam).

Plato, for instance, saw the soul as participating in a higher order of Forms, suggesting that much of what we do is part of a larger metaphysical plan. In Stoicism, destiny is not an external imposition but the unfolding of nature's rational order, which the wise must align with.

2. Free Will

Free will, by contrast, is the belief that human beings can make choices that are not entirely dictated by past events. Thinkers such as Immanuel Kant argued that moral responsibility presupposes free will; we cannot be held accountable unless we have the freedom to choose.

Existentialists like Jean-Paul Sartre went further, insisting that "existence precedes essence"—we are not born with predetermined purposes, but must create our essence through actions. Sartre’s notion of radical freedom suggests that we are "condemned to be free," implying that even in avoidance, we make choices that define us.

The modern understanding of free will faces challenges from neuroscience, which shows that many of our decisions are made unconsciously. Yet compatibilists like Daniel Dennett argue that even if our choices arise from subconscious processes, we still retain meaningful agency within a deterministic framework.

 

Destiny vs. Free Will: Bridging the Divide

Rather than seeing destiny and free will as opposites, some philosophical traditions offer integrative frameworks.

• Karma and Dharma (Hinduism/Buddhism): Actions (karma) from past lives shape current conditions, but within those conditions, we have the agency to act. One's dharma (duty) offers guidance, but not compulsion.
• Compatibilism (Western Philosophy): This view reconciles determinism with free will by suggesting that freedom is the ability to act according to one’s motives without external coercion. You may not control all causes, but you can choose among alternatives within those constraints.
• Process Philosophy (Alfred North Whitehead): Reality is not a fixed sequence but an ongoing process. Every moment is a "becoming," shaped by past patterns and creative novelty. Thus, destiny and choice are dynamically intertwined.

 

Examples from History and Life

1. Oedipus Rex – A Cautionary Tale

Sophocles’ tragedy "Oedipus Rex" portrays a king who tries to escape his prophesied fate—only to fulfill it through his very attempts to avoid it. This paradox illustrates how destiny might operate not through supernatural force, but through human psychology, blind spots, and ironic consequences.

2. Mahatma Gandhi and Moral Choice

Gandhi believed in karma and divine will but exercised radical moral agency. His life shows that belief in a larger purpose need not paralyze action—it can inspire it. He said, “You may never know what results come of your actions. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”

3. Steve Jobs – Connecting the Dots

In his famous Stanford speech, Jobs said, “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.” This suggests a retrospective patterning—a sense that events make sense in hindsight, though they may not be predestined.

 

Relevance in the Contemporary World

Coping with Chaos and Uncertainty

In times of personal or collective crisis—such as the COVID-19 pandemic or global conflicts—the notion that “everything happens for a reason” offers comfort. It frames suffering as meaningful rather than random. Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, argued that the will to meaning is central to psychological survival.

Yet, overreliance on fate can lead to fatalism—a passive acceptance of injustice or suffering. For instance, blaming poverty or discrimination on karma may hinder social change. A belief in agency is necessary to drive activism and innovation.

Psychology and the Illusion of Control

Modern psychology acknowledges the need for perceived control. Believing we have choices boosts motivation, health, and well-being. Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindset shows that individuals who believe they can shape their future through effort tend to perform better and feel happier.

However, post-hoc rationalization—explaining outcomes as inevitable—can also bias our thinking. The hindsight bias ("I knew it all along") makes us believe things were meant to be, even if they weren’t.

Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Futures

In the digital age, algorithms increasingly shape our choices—what we watch, whom we date, even medical or legal outcomes. This raises questions about techno-determinism. Are we surrendering free will to machine logic?

Yet, awareness of these systems allows us to resist. Just as ancient philosophers urged critical reflection, today's citizens must engage in digital literacy and ethical design to retain autonomy in a world of code.

 

A Personal Reflection: The Middle Path

In many Indian philosophical systems, the middle path offers a way to balance extremes. The Buddha’s Madhyamaka encourages neither blind faith in fate nor egoistic assertion of control. Rather, it invites mindfulness—observing causes and conditions, while exercising compassion and intention.

This middle path resonates with the concept of co-creation. Life is not fully scripted, but we do not write it alone. Every decision is a dance between conditions and creativity, between nature and nurture, between surrender and striving.

 

Conclusion

So, does everything happen for a reason? The answer, like life itself, is complex. There are causes behind every event, yes—but not always reasons in the moral or cosmic sense. Destiny and free will are not necessarily foes; they may be partners in a deeper dance. Our lives are shaped by circumstances we do not choose, yet within those, we exercise choice.

Philosophically, the truth may lie in the tension between determinism and freedom, not in resolving it. The wisest paths invite humility, agency, and meaning—not passivity or arrogance.

In the end, perhaps the better question is not whether everything happens for a reason, but: What meaning will I give to what happens? That question honors both fate and freedom, and points toward a life of mindful responsibility and purpose.

 

References (Selected Readings & Inspirations)

• Frankl, V. E. (2006). Man’s Search for Meaning. Beacon Press.
• Sartre, J.-P. (2007). Existentialism Is a Humanism. Yale University Press.
• Kant, I. (1996). Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. Cambridge University Press.
• Dennett, D. (2003). Freedom Evolves. Penguin.
• Spinoza, B. (2007). Ethics. Penguin Classics.
• Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House.
• Whitehead, A. N. (1979). Process and Reality. Free Press.