Destiny is a reality.

This is a whole new debate in and of its own...

It is not all like that. We know in exacting detail how one breathes and the mechanisms around breathing.What your really saying is "I beleive, but I can't explain it".That's not an explanation, that's just whooly thinking. Edited by Larni, : Capitalisation

Then you need to cease using it as justification for your conjecture about destiny if you cannot substantiate it.That is the intellectually honest thing to do.Edited by Larni, : No reason given.

I don't think I'd characterize world conquest as "more", at least not in the sense of "better". I'd suggest that the world might be a better place if Napoleon and Alexander (and Saddam Hussein and Pol Pot and so on) had stuck to games. Maybe not fulfilling one's destiny is a good thing.

Or you will not. As you stated in your OP not everyone fulfills their destiny. Perhaps when it becomes apparent to you, you will realize that even though you are well prepared for that future, it does not carry the same joy that it used to. For example, I always thought my future would have something to do with music, I loved playing and performing music. After having had the opportunity to involve myself in that field, I realized that when it is for a job, music is far less fun and I have removed myself from it with the exception of the one part that pays basically nothing, but is still somewhat enjoyable.Of course, you can just turn this around and say that playing music was never my destiny, but then how will you ever be sure if something is your destiny unless you put yourself out there and try it? At that point it isn't a learning from an outside source, but putting yourself in the situation and seeing how you enjoy it. You are making a rational decision based on current experiences, not following some preplanned destiny. How can you tell the difference between if something is destined and if you simply enjoy participating in some activity? Since not everyone fulfills their destiny, how are you sure when it has been fulfilled? So, you are not trusting any outside source for what is your destiny? Why is it destined? Why are you not free to change your mind based on instincts, regardless of how much time or effort has been put forth? If you are trusting in yourself to determine your destiny, isn't that the same as just saying that "Everyone makes their own destiny"? We most certainly all cannot agree on this fact. In fact, you will find that the ranges of belief in a "God-given mind" range widely, from your assurance that it was "God-given" to my focus on the evidence that shows no evidence of a "God" to give us our mind. Rather it was formed through evolutionary means. Why not? Wouldn't that be more fruitful than going another route, such as my own, and wasting over twenty years preparing for a career in a specific industry only to discover that working in that industry carries no joy for you? (To be honest, I don't see it as a waste, but rather an interesting side journey that educated me in another area of life) However, because you have a target of a destiny, isn't this type of defeat later in life more risky of creating feelings of inadequacy for not achieving your destiny? In this case, if there is some supposed destiny giver, I would think asking for advice would be beneficial for discovering it. Why would you say otherwise? This I semi-agree with, minus the destiny part. I think that we actually do make our own destiny, be it good or bad, through the decisions we make. We find jobs we enjoy or drugs that ruin our lives. We find a music career that enlivens us or we choose another route later, regardless of the time that was spent achieving previous goals. After all, what is a destiny achieved other than looking at our past decisions after the fact and linking them to our current events?

If you are the kind of person who does not have regrets, then it's either you're better than everyone else except for the perfect person, or you are, in fact, the perfect person, whether that be Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Dalai Lama, Tom Cruise, Drew Barrymore, Michael Jordan, etc.It does not mean a thing. It has nothing to do with destiny. It just means that you haven't reflected enough. I simply cannot believe that you are one of the VERY few people in the world who somehow haven't made a mistake.And if you did make a mistake and you did regret it, it means that you have probably sold your soul to the devil.Are you an atheist or something? I am sensing a tremendous lack of humanity from you.

Mistakes are what you learn from, not something to regret but rather to celebrate.I was successful and happy mainly because I made lots and lots of mistakes.AbE: Speaking as a Christian the devil is simply a funny fiction. Soon as that word comes up the proper response is a loud guffaw, wink wink, nudge nudge.Edited by jar, : see AbE:

I disagree completely! Again, this is coming from a deep, Christian perspective.Those who do not fulfill their destinies literally fuck up the world, and they lead extremely miserable lives.Have you met a hobo before who was truly a hobo in mind, body, and soul? I've met them. They are in bliss. That is their destiny, and there's nothing wrong with that.

This is a shameful quote right here. Why would you assume that atheists lack in humanity? My primary goals are to help science advance and bring relief to the suffering of individuals in the third world through increased nutrition options, reduction in preventable diseases, and increasing the overall quality of life worldwide. That you seem to think one must be religious to share empathy for fellow humans is insulting to say the least.Similarly to what Larni is saying, I do not have regrets (outside of the one I have about starting smoking cigarettes). The reason for this isn't a lack of humanity or empathy, but rather because I realize that even the bad decisions I made have something that they are able to teach me to help my future. I had a DUI over ten years ago, because I was stupid in my youth, and I have not driven under the influence a single day since that moment. You don't regret something when you can learn from it. Instead, you take it as an example to teach you.

Oh man, lol.This is another discussion of it's own.In order for me to let you see where I'm coming from, I first have to have you see GOD. But of course, I'm not a preacher. I'm just me.Um, what I'm trying to say is, we can not engage in any kind of debate of this caliber of topic without being at least the same spiritual beliefs.

Or reflected so much that I no longer torture myself for things I've done in the past. I've made lots of mistakes. But living in regret serves no purpose. Impossible. I sold my soul to one of my more whooly minded friends at university for the price of a pint. I think it came to 1.20. Or sensing somebody not agreeing with you.You still have not given any reason to suspect that what you say is any more than conjecture.

So what you are saying that only people who beleive in your god can undertnad destiny?Bollocks.What you mean is that you have a fuzzy feeling about your place in the world (maybe you're even rationalising your position in the grand scheme of things) and you cannot articulate it.Good one.

I request that the topic of atheism be dropped from this thread.It's something that I've always wanted to talk about, but I'm not ready to do it in this thread. In a different thread, I'll do it. But not here.The topic is: Fulfilling your Destiny.And I'm sorry if I seemed like I'm insulting you. I was just being honest. And of course, my thoughts are my own. I acknowledge that I could be wrong, even though I don't believe it to be the case right now.

I will drop the topic as long as you do not continue to claim that atheists have a lack of humanity, which is a claim that should be backed with evidence.As for Destiny, I would like to reiterate my question to you, under your religious constraints (I taught youth group for 9 years before I left the church, so i do have some understanding of living a life for God), How do you differentiate between simply finding a task that fulfills you because of past experiences, mistakes and lessons versus this is what was your preordained destiny? If destiny can only be observed in hindsight, and involves connecting past experiences to current life, is there any discernible difference between something destined and making rational decisions based on evidence from your life?

Napoleon and Alexander fucked up the world. ("Literally" is not an appropriate word here.) Alexander was miserable because there were no more worlds to fuck up. Napoleon had hemmorhoids. How do you know it's their destiny, except in hindsight?