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Saturday, June 13, 2015

The Daily Chai's Opinion About Fate

Today's chai was a huge disappointment, mostly because it didn't show up in my hand when I wished it to. Dammit

I got a fortune cookie the other day and my fortune was "Fate will find a way." Kate asked me what the heck that meant and I said it was a platitude that people tell each other so they feel better when things they want don't turn out the way they had hoped.

"No. Mom. What does fate mean?"

Oh that.

Well my darling, fate is a belief that no matter what you do, no matter what choices you make, your future and ultimate destiny is set in stone and nothing you can do will change it. The thing is, it's completely unprovable because we can't see the future, so how can we tell if one choice leads to one future and another choice would lead to the same future? We also can't disprove it because we can't tell if one choice will create a race of artificially intelligent super robots that will destroy humanity or if another choice will stop the war between robots and people. Oh wait. That's Terminator 2.

Relying on fate to get your through a tough time is just a way to absolve yourself of responsibility. Doesn't matter what you do, things will just turn out the same way. You can knowingly make bad choices and when the results slap you in the face, you can say, it wasn't my fault, it was fate. Here's a news flash, when you make bad choices, it is your fault.

It's the same thing when people try to comfort you with "Everything happens for a reason." I would personally love it if everything that has ever happened to me had a good fucking reason for happening. For the bullies in high school. For my dad dying too young. For my marriage breakdown. For having to move ONE MORE FUCKING TIME. But I'm a realist. Reality is...shit happens. It's what you do with it that matters. It's the lessons you take away from those major life events and how you allow it to shape your core being. They didn't happen so you could be who you are today. They just happened because that's life. And really...it's pretty fucking arrogant of us to believe that things are happening all the time specifically to guide us through life. Center of the universe much?

At this point in my "Fate is a ridiculous way for people to get out of trouble for their actions" that Kate said, "Okay, great. Mum. Mum. I get it."

Oops. Was I saying all that out loud?

-Megs



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