I’ve always gone back and forth between believing in fate and believing that we create our own. Is life in the hands of destiny, our path already paved? Or is it by our own hand that we pave the way? Religion, free will and the likes aside, is who we are, who we meet, where we go and what we do a product of us or that of fate?
After a little more thought, I decided that maybe we need to believe in both. That wherever we’re standing is a perfect mix of fate’s magic and our ability to choose. I recently heard it compared to chasing waves. The size, magnitude and timing are out of our control but when we see a wave start to roll in, we know it’s time to ride. Whether it turns out to be the perfect wave or not, we took our chances and rode them out. And when the time comes, we’ll paddle back out and wait to chase what’s next.
I think fate does have a specific knack for timing, bringing us to the right place at the right time. I’d also like to believe that when our efforts and passion are focused on today, in the present moment, we tend to find ourselves a little more in fate’s favor. Think of all the time we waste mulling over situations and options that likely will never happen or at least never how we imagine. It’s near impossible to pave the next mile of our path when we only know enough to get us 100 yards. If we can keep our thoughts on today, the week at most, I think we’ll find more joy in waiting for fate’s perfect timing.
And if you’ve ever had to wait for the opportunities you wholeheartedly believe you deserve, you know it’s not all that easy. Patience has been the hardest skill for me to learn and continue to practice. The second I start to feel restless, I want to know exactly what I’ll be doing next, but, the reality of it is, it’s just not the right time. I haven’t seen all my options and the details I need to decide don’t yet exist. So, I have two choices, I can consume myself with trying to understand a picture of missing pieces or I can choose to focus on understanding one piece at a time. What I’ve found is that when I’m centered around the importance of today, I set myself up for a more productive and proactive tomorrow.
So I’ll leave you with this: let yourself be guided by the joy of today and, when time is absolutely perfect, trust that you’ll know, down to your core, it’s time to ride fate’s wave.