What is Destiny?

It is a common topic in the life of an Indian. Destiny/fate/luck/kismat... you call it anything but the fact remains that a lot of people believe in destiny and use it to blame on unfortunate events in their life.

I have got my own understanding and opinion about destiny.

Like everyone else I grew up trying to understand what fate means. Initially it was assumed to be the divine intervention for me, through which I could get things which I needed. But with time, I have seen that this divine intervention is all but "too unpredictable".

Therefore as a final answer, I would say that "humans are not born with any definite fate". Humans are born with definite skills.

Fate = Skills.

What we think is destiny or fate is in a true sense "Life Skill". Some are born with better skills in dealing with situations and therefore can gain the best out of it. Others wait and watch and let things happen on their own.

Now to complicate matters, there are 2 different things which we need to differentiate:

1) LUCK which are basically coincidences which happen all the time and everywhere. For example, someone winning a lottery is a coincidence (and therefore luck). Luck has nothing to do with some-ones skills.

2) Destiny is what we make for ourselves through the actions we take. This is where the skills (we all are born with) make a difference. Some of us learn from our mistakes and some of us inherently know how to deal with certain situations. Each one of us has certain abilities which cannot be measured with the IQ test. These skills are very difficult to visualize. Even the owner does not know what he/she is good at. It is something which is embedded deep in the sub-conscious.

It is this destiny or fate which builds or breaks one’s life. People unknowingly use these skills and handle certain situation carefully and with tact. For example, an office colleague would be bad at doing regular work but due to some of his/her "other skills" (like pampering the boss or better email presentation) he/she gets better salary. You would say that he/she is luckly (out of ignorance), but in fact you are missed to see the hidden skills that person commands.

Another important fact here is that these skills are very difficult to identify and sometimes you never know what you are good at. Also, there are cases that you cannot change the skills which you are born with. It is not that easy to change or improve. Sometimes when bad things happen because of some incorrect action, it is better to blame it on luck/fate than to take the responsibility on oneself and learn from that.

Learn from others and learn from experiences. There is nothing like fate. There is nothing like a predefined destiny. Everything happening around us is happening because someone has utilized his/her skills (for better or for worse).

So stop blaming your luck and do some introspection.

Love, NVG