We make choices every day. We choose to think about certain things, we choose to undertake certain tasks towards a path we think is right. We choose to take action or to ignore. We choose to listen to our gut, or not. But lurking in the background is an undeniable question. It\u2019s the age old question\u2026 do I really have control of my life or is some larger hand of fate or pre-determined destiny at play? Is it really my choice? For example, I cannot NOT think about certain things, no matter how much I try. And I cannot ignore the question of fate. And more often than not, I can\u2019t help feeling that life has guided me on a path to arrive at each milestone along a pre-determined path. The sense that I am prepared, shaped and trained for each new life stage is strong. And it\u2019s not just a macro-view that suggests it. The details of everyday life suggest a serendipity that is far too convenient to be coincidence. For example, I needed a specific procedure; and it turns out the nation\u2019s leading expert is just half an hour drive away. I came home from my procedure to find that I cannot get into bed except by my favorite new workout move – the plank, and funny enough I had been compelled so strongly to add that to my workout a month prior based on completely different reasons, and had mastered it (finally!) just days before. I find myself often saying, isn\u2019t it lucky that I had gained that skill just in time; that I had been training in this or that yoga move that turned out to be the perfect thing to get me through this; that I had met the right person at the right time; that I am compelled from a place deeper than choice on a regular basis and it seems to drive me to the next life milestone, or at least provide what I need, just when I need it. I think the truth is a little of both: a balance of choices, some free and some compelled from a deeper place. In the way that a parent gives a toddler free choice over the decisions that do not really matter, I think that life gives us free choice over whatever will not deter the intended milestone. For all else, we are compelled towards it. And if we listen closely, I find that what we are compelled to choose, has never led me astray, but had provided, not unlike a parent, for everything I need when I needed it. So maybe fate is not a bad thing. Maybe it\u2019s protective, kind and nurturing. I choose to think so; because there is no shaking it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A reflective essay weighing free will against fate, drawing on everyday serendipities to suggest that life balances genuine choice with a deeper compulsion that guides us \u2014 protectively and like a parent \u2014 toward each new milestone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"project_category":[31],"project_tag":[53,51,52],"series":[],"class_list":["post-379","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-observations","project_tag-choosing","project_tag-fate","project_tag-free-will"],"acf":{"recommend_blurb":"For readers pondering choice, destiny, and whether life is guiding them, this contemplative essay offers a comforting view of fate as protective and nurturing rather than something to fear.","citation_snippet":"Dr. Kathryn Messegee (Kathryn Colleen), \"A Nurturing Fate,\" https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/project\/a-nurturing-fate\/","topics":["spirit","growth","essays"],"related_book":"","buy_url":""},"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Topics.008.jpeg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/CCA57320-6DC3-4284-BC27-49E433028503.jpeg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/on-life-being-human\/id1360368906","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2nq6d35q9nFAFlanaJc2Do","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/feed\/podcast\/on-life-being-human","embedCode":"
A Nurturing Fate<\/a><\/blockquote>