Kismet. Fate…destiny.
A pre-determined course of events.
Shit happens…as they say.
Personally I have never wanted to believe that I have no control over my life or that the choices I make or don’t make (a choice in and of itself, no?) have no bearing on any potential outcome.
Truth is, I believe we make our own luck. We drive our own destiny. We create our own success.
No doubt – even if you agree somewhat – you are rolling your eyes and wondering about hurricanes, earthquakes, oil spills, bad food in restaurants and other terrible disasters…kismet – no?
OK – shit happens – but here is the thing – look at every natural disaster and I will bet you there is a human fault linked to the consequences. Poor planning, bad building, overcrowded tenements, lack of research money and funding – you get the picture….
The way I see it – the making of luck was neglected.
So what’s the bottom line? Listen:
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
Yogi Berra
Get my drift?
Another way to look at it – more cerebral than Yogi, but you have to admire his directness! – is a poem by Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken,” one of my favorites.
Listen:
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
by: Robert Frost (1874-1963)
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
So be like Yogi – do like Robert Frost – and that will make all the difference.
What do you think?
Luck is preparation meeting opportunity.
-Seneca
Doing just that; David, doing just that!!
R
Your thread is hardly linear. But I love the conclusion: take charge of one’s life by moving forward, even if this requires under-informed choices and decisions.
The thing about Kismet, fate or destiny is that the road not taken is the one that was meant not to be taken so that in itself is the natural order of things, is it not?
The concept of kismet or destiny is a complex non-linear notion that is not easily understood by the west which is more comfortable with a more linear and logical way of thinking. Kismet is inextricably linked to Karma (efforts, deeds, actions, hard work) and Aakaanksha ( will, choices, road taken..) but it also includes within it an unknown constant (circumstance, space, time, a force bigger than us) in our lives. A striking example – Obama worked hard to reach where he is and took the road of politics to become the president of US but he was also destined !!
The concept in its entirety is best captured in the ancient Indian scriptures Upanishads :
\You are what your deep driving desire is;
As your deep driving desire is, so is your will;
As your will is, so is your deed;
As your deed is, so is your destiny.\
The concept of kismet or destiny is a complex non-linear notion that is not easily understood by the west which is more comfortable with a more linear and logical way of thinking. Kismet is inextricably linked to Karma (efforts, deeds, actions, hard work) and Aakaanksha ( will, choices, road taken..) but it also includes within it an unknown constant (circumstance, space, time, a force bigger than us) in our lives. A striking example – Obama worked hard to reach where he is and took the road of politics to become the president of US but he was also destined !!
The concept in its entirety is best captured in the ancient Indian scriptures Upanishads :
\You are what your deep driving desire is;
As your deep driving desire is, so is your will;
As your will is, so is your deed;
As your deed is, so is your destiny.
…and destiny is a more seductive concept too
I believe life is about crossroads and choices , similar to Frost’s Poem. Sometimes we make do the right ones and sometimes we don’t. We make our own luck or at least we help shape it.
Life isnt linear — and I agree that destiny is seductive — precisily becusae I can help shape it — and in doing so change outcomes in ways I may never have anticipated and then have even more choices.
We make good, bad, right, wrong and irrelevant choices and as I said no choice is a choice just as much…
The way I see it we are born — we die and its the journey that we have to make the most of.
Destiny is a seductive concept because it pre-supposes (emphasis on “pre”) that there is a mysterious reason for everything – why people meet or why they come into your life or why certain events happen (you can connect the dots only later!). Living with a sense of destiny makes the life journey a lot more enchanting and intriguing…
Working hard to make your luck, crossroads and choices – good or bad, making the most of life -that is simply living life ! Destiny is a higher notion and therefore way more seductive.
A lot of high achievers live with a sense of destiny. Listen in to Steve jobs speech to stanford students.
String theory tell us the universe we know is only one of 10 to the power of 500 possible universes.
I am sure there are a couple where shit doesn’t happen, but for the rest of us, there’s endless choice, more or less likely outcomes and parallel path. So, Frost could have taken both roads, and if string theory is correct, he actually did.
@ Shyamali: you’re right, we’re not comfortable in the West with parallels and probabilities. But the idea is enticing, and more optimistic than western determinisim. You can have it both: a full barrel of wine and a drunk wife (from Sciliy).
“It’s never been like this, and it will be the same again”.
Victor Chernomyrdin, Russian Prime minister (who died last week)
What an inspiring topic for today – Kismet – it was meant for me to read!
Here’s what I got out of it:
LIVE CONSCIOUSLY
HONOR THY SELF
Do what’s RIGHT FOR YOU!…in return, you’ll also do what’s RIGHT FOR OTHERS.
A full barell of wine….HMMMMM –
In doing what’s right — we make choices — as in what’s right — goes back to my first philosophy class — in the land of the evil where right was evil is there an absolute good — so doing evil is right and doing whats right for others is more evil — Like people who belive in God and then kill in his name — how do we reconcile?