Chapter 7.8 Destiny and Free Will

Destiny  and Free Will

“A man must know his destiny… if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, twice, or at the very most, three times, fate will reach out and tap a man on the shoulder… if he has the imagination, he will turn around and fate will point out to him what fork in the road he should take, if he has the guts, he will take it.”

General George S. Patton (1885-1945)     U.S. Army General WWII

One of the biggest debates against all this synchronicity and guides, centers around how destiny conflicts with free will.  Are our lives completely planned? Are all things destined? Why is it that man most often thinks in black and white? …. It either is or it isn’t.

Dr. Weiss addresses this dichotomy in his book Same Soul, Many Bodies. According to his research using regression therapy, and now the progression work he is doing into the future, he has come to the conclusion (or direction) that after each life we reconvene with our guides (after a little respite to recover, since we all know that Earth-life is difficult). As a true soul-group we review the Earth adventure, determine whether we accomplished what it was that we went to learn, and plan out the items to improve our soul and energy on our next return.  If we didn’t fulfill that which we had set out to accomplish, then we have to go back in a different situation and work on it again … kind of like failing a grade in school.

“It is like climbing a tree:  There are many different branches and many different choices.  You’ll come to the top of the tree eventually, but it may take five lifetimes or ten or thirty … It will depend on the choices you make.  Thus, both the destiny (the tree …) and free will coexist.”

Same Soul, Many Bodies Dr. Brian Weiss

Many lives can be over many centuries.  Time is not a factor.  Our quest for the top of the Tree of Destiny depends on our free will in this school of Earth. We decide when we start, how quick we climb, and which branches we choose (which path).  We all have our lessons to learn, and we have to be able to learn our own, while interacting with other people that are trying to climb their own different trees.

“America lives in the heart of every man everywhere who wishes to find a region where he will be free to work out his destiny as he chooses.”

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)     28th President USA

Is there really destiny? Do you have any experiences that indicate that you have a certain destiny? Let me give you an example of destiny … or maybe you will just see it as coincidence.

Anne was 10 and Keith was 11 when they moved to the same city in Southern California in the same year (1958) from different Midwest states.  Both of their fathers were hired at the Air Force base by the same man.

Anne and Keith went to the same junior high and high schools. They were even in the same seven-person Student Government class for a year, but they never really talked directly to each other. The most contact they had was that a lot of high school kids hung out down by the baseball park during the warm summer nights.  Gary, Keith’s best friend, was kind of interested in Anne’s best friend, Vicky, but these girls were in their bad-boy phase and the two boys weren’t bad enough.

Keith went to college up the coast and a year later Anne went to a different university in Los Angeles. Four years later Keith got a summer job in L.A.  Keith’s fraternity (S-K) had a chapter in L.A. and he was able to get a room in the house. His roommate was guy from his old high school, although he didn’t know him.

His roommate was dating Anne and Keith began dating her roommate. When the summer was over, Keith went back to Santa Barbara to play for a couple of months and figure out what to do.  Soon he ended up in New York for a short time but ultimately returned to the L.A. area. That next summer, he decided to give Anne a call.  They went on a date to Disneyland and hit it off okay. The rest is history.

It seems that both of Keith’s parents knew Anne’s dad from work. On the announcement of their engagement, my dad pulled out an old copy from our junior-high newspaper that had both Lynn and I in the same picture of the Student Government class of seven.

(OK, it’s a true story.)

What a string of coincidences!  Or did we follow the right signs to reach the same fork in the road at the right time? Were we led through synchronicity? I have come to call instances similar to that of Lynn and I as “meant-to-be’s” and not coincidences … and I have heard of many similar accounts.

“A good marriage is at least 80 percent good luck in finding the right person at the right time. The rest is trust.”

Nanette Newman     British Actress and Author

I guess I am a more of a believer in synchronicity than luck nowadays.  Since I’ve allowed things to occur more often, instead of trying to force them to happen, that old “life is difficult” has become that “life can be easier”.  If what is happening doesn’t seem right, I look for other options.  Something, someone will light the path.

We still have to motivate ourselves to open the right doors.  Free will requires action.  But be open to the signs and feel your intuition.  If things don’t feel right, maybe you’re on a wrong fork.

A very good friend of mine told me that she could accept her destiny and whatever turns it takes her, but she said that what she finds challenging is accepting the destiny of one of her daughters, who has a health problem that keeps her in pain most of the time. Her daughter has a family and a job and to the people around her, she does not show her physical troubles. But her constant pain makes her life difficult and demanding. And her mother wishes that it wasn’t so.

It’s easy for me to theorize that she is living her destiny, and her struggles will lead her to some key learning in life. But watching a child struggle, even an adult child, is never easy on a parent. What is critical to remember, as a parent, is that our children are here to live their own lessons, and perhaps help us to learn some key points of our own.

“Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.”

J. K. Rowling    English Writer

Some comfort can be taken if you accept the proposal that there are multiple paths that we can take … that the future isn’t a certain thing. Each path leads to a different life adventure, some good, some bad, and some dead-ends.  (When you’re dead, it ends.)  But the destination is still the same. Maybe in another life (S-K), you’ll return to the fork where you’ve struggled, to roll the dice and choose again.

“I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice.”

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)     German Theoretical Physicist

There are always good paths.  Choosing the right path is not by chance. You can be shown the way to go, but you have to be able to read the signs. You have the free will to walk your path, to climb your tree the way you want. Your Destiny will always be there.

“To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.”

The Alchemist Paulo Coelho

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