Guys what your take on the "everything happens for a reason" line.. I mean do you really believe that fate plays a major role in our lives and decison making.. Or are we solely responsible for our own paths in life...
Its just that everytime something happens I get told that so as i feel like crap right now I'd really like to know the reason other than my ex bf being a complete arse or is there some purpose to me constantly feeling miserable...
Pangloss sometimes said to Candide, "All events are interconnected in this best of all possible worlds, for if you hadn't been driven from a beautiful castle with hard kicks in the behind because of your love for Lady Cunegonde, if you hadn't been seized by the Inquisition, if you hadn't wandered over America on foot, if you hadn't thrust your sword through the baron, and if you hadn't lost all your sheep from the land of Eldorado, you wouldn't be here eating candied citrons and pistachio nuts.
"Well said," replied Candide, "but we must cultivate our garden."
- Candide
Have you seen the Matrix? At the beginning, Morpheus asks Neo if he believes in fate. Mister Anderson does not, because he doesn't like the idea of not being in control of his own actions. I tend to agree more with Voltaire, that fate is irrelevant to my response to whatever life brings to me. If life brings me suffering, and that's my "fate", I wouldn't be content with it. I wouldn't allow myslelf to be limited by predestination.
So fate or no fate, we must cultivate our gardens. We're responsible for what we make of our situation.
yeah i've seen the matrix and the whole movie embraces the issue of fate.. and I do agree with what your saying but dont you sometimes think things are all too coincidental..you just happen to meet someone and something just happens to happen spurred by the saying "in the right place at the right time"... I mean is it or were you just suppose to meet that person at the time you know...
Personally, I believe that there is no cosmic 'hand' or intelligence shaping the way things happen. (Yes, I'm an agnostic). But even more than that, I'm a complete nihilist, too.
I strictly believe in the laws of cause and effect, down to an atomic and particle level. Just like a ball behaves in a deterministic fashion when you throw it against a wall, so do us humans. After all, we're just a bunch of atoms just like the ball. Just a lot more complex.
Some might argue: "But the ball doesn't control it's destiny". Well, neither do we. We THINK that we are in control, but even the very ACT OF THINKING SOMETHING is simply a result of your environment having exerted it's influence on you. You are just a ball bouncing against a wall. The wall is just something that something else bounced against. Both affected each other equally.
The gist of it is that we have no free will, free will is a myth. Even though you think you're making up you're mind about something, out of your own accord, that simple act was predestined. Even me just thinking about this and thinking about it was predestined. It's hard to wrap your head around this concept, but when it really sinks in, it's the loneliest and most liberating feeling you can experience (and even that, too, was predestined).
So, does "fate" exist? Well, technically, yes, but not emotionally. People like to attach emotional causes and consequences to things, I think that is the primal reason why religions even exist in the first.
Originally posted by look forward
Guys what your take on the "everything happens for a reason" line.. I mean do you really believe that fate plays a major role in our lives and decison making.. Or are we solely responsible for our own paths in life...
Its just that everytime something happens I get told that so as i feel like crap right now I'd really like to know the reason other than my ex bf being a complete arse or is there some purpose to me constantly feeling miserable...
what do u think??
I don't believe in some preordained fate or path, and I do feel that we are all responsible for our own decisions and our own life. I figure that whatever happens in our life just happens and doesn't have to have a reason. If I were a Christian I would probably hold on to that thought that there is a reason for everything even if we don't understand it because I can see how that might be comforting. But I'm not a believer, so I don't look at it that way.
No, everything doesn't have to have a reason and lots of things don't. People need reasons to justify what they don't understand. Everything happens exactly as it's supposed to otherwise it would happen some other way. The reason is immaterial. But there are universal laws that govern what happens and what doesn't. Things happen when you put energy into them. But that's the cause, not the reason. Put energy into getting a job and that will happen. Put no energy and you stay unemployed. Well, I suppose the reason a lot of people are unemployed is because they put no quality energy into seeking jobs. I really can't do everything myself!
Looking for reasons for things happening is a waste of time. Looking for causes of things happening is good because you can learn how to make good things happen again and bad things not to reoccur.
Hint: Good things will happen much more often in your life if you expect them and appreciate them.
It's funny but in my experience, people's belief in fate/destiny/pre-ordination doesn't seem to correspond with their belief in any particular religion. In fact, the people I know who put the most stock in 'fate' are the ones who are agnostic or atheist. Of course, that's just my experience.
In my view, what happens in our lives is a combination of the choices we've made, which intersect with choices other people have made. Sometimes a person's choice might be so powerful or disastrous that it can profoundly affect other people, even to the point where their own choices become moot. The Al Quaeda terrorists made choices on September 11, 2001 that intersected with thousands of other people's choices (to board planes, to get to work early, to be firemen) with tragic results. But was that the fate of any of those murdered people? Was that the fate of the terrorists? No. It was their choice.
I believe in free will. On the other hand, I recognize the significance that certain people and events have had in my life, with consequences and outcomes that I never could have guessed at the time. But although these people/events were influential, sometimes opening new doors of opportunity or closing others, I am the one who ultimately made the subsequent choices that have landed me where I am right now. It's a delicate balance, to acknowledge the role that others have played in your life, but to ultimately take responsibility (and credit!) for everything you've done.
Returning to the original question: Does everything happen for a reason? What do you mean by reason? When it comes to love and the people we meet/fall in love with/fall out of love with, sure there's a reason. The reason is you. There are things in you that were attracted to your ex, at least at the time that you met him. There were things in you that made you want to have a relationship with him, just as he had reasons for wanting to be with you. And there were things in at least one of you that terminated the relationship. If you're still suffering from the loss of the relationship, my guess is that there are things in you that are unwilling to let go of whatever it was/is that attracted you to your ex. If you identify what those things are, you will be in a better position to control them.
We've all got to play the hands we're dealt in life. Different people adopt different strategies, sets of rules, and end goals to guide their choices. It'll all work out for the best if you're flexible enough to work with what you've got (instead of what you wish were the case) and make the most of it.
PS: sorry God, had I known you'd chosen to Speak on this thread I wouldn't have chimed in with my paltry offering!
Last edited by midori; 13th February 2004 at 2:02 PM..
Reason: I heard the word of God!
Originally posted by midori
And it's nice to see that when it comes to English, you prefer the more sensible American spellings! Good to know God is on our side!!
It must be a sign....
Yes, a sign indeed, obviously we mustn't edit the pledge of allegiance.
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Does everything happen for a reason????
Re: Thanks God
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