View On Destiny

Our civilization has come a long way from living in cave, hunting for food, and praying the gods for the protection from the unknown to today’s environmentally controlled dwelling, processed gourmet food, and reliance on science and technology to solve all our foreseeable difficulties. We no longer have to feel the stones to cross the river, to endure starvation when the weather is not cooperating, and to be contented just to live to the rightful age.

We learn to build bridges over rivers and straits between two seas, to construct satellites and computers to analyze and predict weather, to set goals of accomplishments at a young age, and to dream the impossible dreams. It is then a revelation to realize that each one of us can only be certain things and can only achieve limited goals. Each one of us is destined to play only a small role in life as the human race is marching on a prescribed path toward a destination that it is designed to cross.

Birth

We all start a life on this Earth in the same way. Based on science and technology, we understand that who we are and what we are capable of doing are determined by the unalterable DNA which resides in every cell in our body. But, it is the environment that we are born in that determines how we are and what capabilities we possess can be realized:

1. A musical genius born in a place where the music can only be heard not played will become a music lover but not a composer.

2. A mathematician born in a place where free choice is encouraged will be able to fulfill what is inscribed.

3. A novelist born in a place where one only has time to worry about the next meal and how to raise a family will find time to write only in the dreams.

4. A killer born in a place of law and order will find ways to satisfy the urge.

5. A righteous man born in a place full of temptations will give up one’s life before succumbing to the sinful deeds.

   Most of the people are born in a place to live out a life of routines having, once a while, to solve and face uncommon problems as they are completing the mission to live and to reproduce.

Reproduction

Reproduction is essential to life on Earth. It is programmed into the DNA of all the living things. When we reach the rightful age, each one of us will have the urge to seek the opposite sex to start the process. To the humans, reproduction is not just a mean to complete the life cycle. Through the urge to mate, we can experience love and hate, joy and sadness, betray and trust, etc.. Our experiences will be different from one another depending on our personality and preference.

We will meet many people in life but only a few can be friend and sometimes, only one lover to spend the rest of life together. We can choose anyone to be our friend. But, more often than not, it is the DNA and circumstances that mold our relationships:

1. The movie star with the attractive physical look and persuasive communication skill has the opportunity to meet all sorts of people. But, from what we heard, true and lasting friendships are just as hard to come by.

2. The professor dealing with books and students most of the life, will attract and make friends only with people of similar interests.

3. The beggar down on the luck with no employable skill can only hope for the next meal and dare not to dream about a life with close friends.

   Most of the people with ideals and grand wishes will be happy to keep the loved ones and be contented to live out an uneventful and mundane journey.

Lessons

Even though we have no control over the beginning and the ending of our life, the limited choices we have over how we spend our times on this Earth will make the journey filled with emotional and spiritual experiences that make life on Earth more than what it appears to be.

As each one of us tries to make a better living, we will encounter problems that we are not equipped to solve and good fortunes that we do not know how to handle. There are the cases of someone:

1. Having to face racial prejudice or personal character attack,

2. Being the victim of a business failure to become homeless,

3. Having to endure constant pain after a traffic accident, etc.

   There are the stories that someone:

1. Who inherit a big fortune only to lose it all in bad investments,

2. Who won big in the Lotto only to see the alienation of once close circle of good friends,

3. Who strikes gold in a business only to find the ruin of the personal life, etc.

   Each person may experience similar cases or stories in life. But, the effect will all be different. Some will soon forget the whole thing, while the others will remember the details for a long time. Some will try to purge the painful impressions, while the others will try to learn as much as they can. Either way, no one will remain the same as we have lost the innocence.

Inevitability

The human civilization depends on each one of us to be who we are and to do what we are capable of. However, what happens along the journey will make us immortal. No one lives forever, but, the deeds (accomplishments, sayings, writings, descendants, and/or interactions) that we leave behind will live on. Who is to say whose life is more important or meaningful?

1. Is it Einstein due to his contributions to Science, or is it his parents due to their contributions to Einstein’s DNA?

2. Is it the teacher who shows the students how to embrace, appreciate, and tolerant, or is it Hitler who showed the people the destructiveness of hatred and evil?

3. Is it the mom and pop who operate the corner grocery store most of their life to provide not only the daily necessities to the local residents but also the financial needs to their children’s education, or is it the thief who makes people aware that there is good, there is bad, and there is the inevitability?

   Life on Earth is like a adventure novel filled with good, bad, and evil characters peppered with periods of smooth sailing, insurmountable obstacles, pain and suffering, joy and ecstasy, etc. It is not who we are, what we do, or how we feel that matters. It is the participation to act out our destiny that’s all there is to it.