It was tax day. This makes one think about their standing in life at a certain age.
It was also a day when folks were killed minding their own damned business while watching a road race.
I have lived a blessed life. We all have our ups and downs, trevailes, difficulties, and bumps in the road. Such challenges are part of being an adult. We grow into maturity by figuring out how to navigate said path.
I have always taken that advice to heart.
I am mindful of the wall between the online persona that is "Chauncey DeVega" and the real person that is me. They are for all intents and purposes, and have long been, one in the same. Given my pro wrestling smart mark bonafides, for this, my freelance writing and media presence to work, there is no other arrangement either possible or viable.
Let's break kayfabe for a moment. As such, please share if you would and could. There is so much wisdom here: do teach me.
Have you ever been at a crossroads where you had to make a choice, one that would impact your life, for good or bad? Do you think that fate pushes you in the direction which it needs you to go, or is that all just hindsight reasoning? Would Crom, God, the Force, or whatever universal energy, take away something when you least expect it as a test, just to push you towards your destiny? Is Fate that mercurial?
If we are lucky--or perhaps not, depending on one's own point of view--we have to deal with these questions. The man is at the crossroads waiting for you. Do you take his hand and have a drink? Or do you walk on by?
29 comments:
Hello. And Bye.
We simply call that force The Universe. We can make plans, point ourselves where we think we want to go, stress when we don't think we're going there fast enough, but The Universe will put us where we're supposed to be at the time we're supposed to be there. The right place at the last possible moment, perhaps, so that we don't quibble about it...
I believe I reach that crossroad everyday, multiple times a day. As a Christian I believe that God has a plan for my life, but I have complete free will to accept or reject that plan. Everyday I'm presented with choices to either walk in the light or side step into darkness. Within the boundaries of His plan there is room to carve out a unique identity. For instance one is not "fated" in the traditional sense to become a phone that can only receive and make calls, but a smartphone that can also run thousands of complex applications. On the path to God's ideal for my life He will test my character to reveal the defects. The Lord wants an honest character, not someone who's kind when he's surrounded by kind people, but someone who's kind irregardless of the temperments of those around him. It's easy to lock ourselves in a bubble and deceive ourselves as to who we really are, hence the need for test.
I hope that answers your question and adds something of value to your knowledge base.
Mostly undecided, but most often I think it's what you call hindsight reasoning, born from our profound human need to create narrative with a capital N. I do think it can be illuminating to reflect on the major crossroads we've encountered & the choices we made, but I'm not convinced those choices are a result of fate or, for that matter, that fate *needs* me to go anywhere. Rather I believe there are some universal laws of nature - though I don't claim to know what they are - and we're all playing out our little piece of chaos on that very loose framework.
As an atheist, obviously, I do not believe in fate or outside forces pushing us forward. I believe things happen in this world and we must simply decide how best to deal with them at the time that they occur. I am not a fan of allowing things to happen to me. I'm a controlling person by nature, though most wouldn't believe it to see my chaotic laundry room. But I choose to let that happen. I choose to react a certain way when things happen and those choices are based on may things. Past experiences, experiences from those close to me and whatever knowledge I've gained through reading and absorbing media of all kinds; these all help me decide what course of action is best. And sometimes that course of action is to do nothing at all because there is nothing I can do.
I will say that when tragedies like this happen, I usually find some small, worthy cause to donate to. Especially if that tragedy isn't local and cannot benefit from me doing something local.
Any choice may turn out, in retrospect, to be/have been a life-impacting crossroads; all you can do is make the best choices you can, and try to minimise any collateral damage. "Fate" is a construct of the human instincts to find pattern and agency, whether they exist or not, in...pretty much everything; which takes care of "Crom, God, the Force, or whatever universal energy". Everything is a "test"...of who/what you are; and "destiny" belongs right in there with "fate".
Simple kwestin, are you making your best and maximum effort at this moment in time?
If the answer is no, then you need to change that up quick, fast, and in a hurry. There is no lying to yourself with regard to the question of whether you're being all that you can be.
Our lives have data points in them like the stars in the sky. How we choose to make sense of them, and what constellations we pick out as defining our experience and who we are is up to us. Perhaps there is something fated about how we choose to interpret our universe, and the signature lenses upon our soul through which we define our reality. There are people in this world who don't know where their next meal is coming from, yet consider themselves happy, whilst others are buying their 2nd/3rd vacation homes and are clinically miserable. Know yourself and what truly is happiness to you.
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"Ain't no heaven/Ain't no burning hell
When I die, where I go/Can't nobody tell"
-John Lee Hooker.
You make your own way in life as best you can despite the random things like cancer diagnoses, car accidents or workplace shootings.
All you can do. Funny thing, I have seen folks deal with the first at a young age, survived two horrific examples of the 2nd where I should have died--walked away most unscathed, lord I hope I never seen the 3rd...although I have too much experience with folks w. guns.
Great advice. Looking at those stars and trying to interpret them. We from the plains of Africa to the shores of Scotland have been looking up in the sky for guidance.
Introspection. Funny though how easy it is to lie to oneself though. I think I know what the answer is.
Best choice. What if the choices are constrained?
I don't know if I looking for guidance from a higher being per se, but the universe sends signs, even for those of us who believe that science is the mind of God--if such a being exists.
Star Trek wisdom, do we risk unraveling our lives by trying to live in hindsight. Picard found out the hard way.
What of a god who allows horrible things to happen, kills grandmas and grandmoms, childrens, and innocent people? Or folks who are broke and unemployed or on the street--and "faithful?" Theodicy is a heck of a puzzle.
So we hope.
Certainly is. I'll try to keep my response as succinct as possible. Long ago humanity chose to ingest evil, making its destructive power a part of the humane genetic makeup. God prepared a plan to filter all the evil from mankind via a choice so as to not violate free will. If God were to step in and stop the consequences of evil from happening every single time, we would never truly understand how awful it is, nor decide to stop doing it to each other. My belief is that God is doing everything possible to finally eradicate evil from this planet for good. In this life He can and does relieve suffering, but we all know the danger a person can find themselves in if he/she cannot feel pain.
I'm not sure if fate pushes us in a certain direction that you need to go. The direction is always happening. Some of us don't recognize it until a major event; others hear that "still small voice" and call it God...But it is always happening, just in a dimension for which we aren't aware. Thus any decision is the right one.
There is one thing you can count on, no matter what you decide. Irony.
There are no non self-imposed constraints. Go preach the WARN gospel at the Bakken shale and see firsthand how the other half lives.
I have no idea whether some higher power throws things in our path, perhaps because I tend to believe causality is not the most important thing at the crossroads. I have found that when I look for the causes of major impacts in my life, I get into a sneaky hate spiral that is not only unproductive, but self-destructive. I have found that a better approach is to be kind to others, to speak truth to power, and to keep learning.
As I said, "the best choices you can". This applies whether the choices are constrained (whether internally or externally) or not.
Greetings Chauncey, this is Rod from Twitter, a fan of your blog and work.
As a Christian, I do not believe in fate or some outside force coercing others to make decisions. What I believe in is freedom, free will, and God as a persuasive voice of goodness for us to work towards liberation, reconciliation, and justice. Because we have free will, there are consequences for our actions, of which, the possibilities are limitless. In other words, nothing is predetermined on the part of human beings and our experience. Freedom and love is all we got.
Regards!
Twitter folks! good to hear from you. Got to walk like a champion, right?
Damn straight!
there is a hand on my shoulder and some other things pushing and pulling, what to do?
I am mindful of the wall between the online persona that is "Chauncey DeVega" and the real person that is me.
Here go your crossroads http://sistahvegan.com/2013/04/24/racist-cunt-and-cyberbullying-ruminations-on-the-troll-life/ - would that Sistah had been as mindful...,
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