Fate vs. Freewill

Everything happens for a reason? You control your own destiny? Which one of these famous cliches are correct?

A friend of mine from another blog site brought up the discussion of freewill & fate. It's quite an interesting discussion and it all has to do with personal beliefs. I understand everyone's beliefs are different, but it got me thinking about which side I favor.

I'm the moderate, can-see-both-sides-to-every-story, relatively open-minded friend of any group. I've never been extreme on a side of any issue and I understand most arguments for everything. As a result, I can't pick one or the other. I believe there's a combination. How diplomatic of me, I know, but hear me out.

I believe there are several decisions made for every instant in life. For instance, I had written a series of words before I typed up that last sentence, but I decided to delete them. As a result, this blog entry has been changed and will lead me in another direction than the blog entry that may have resulted if I kept the same series of words. I believe that there's a path or maybe predestined consequences with every decision. I feel that individuals have the ability through freewill to chose which path (of the many possible paths) they chose. I know a lot of people probably feel this same way because it's an easier belief for humans to wrap their mind around.

I'm currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. The timing of this topic is kinda ironic (fate maybe? ha!) because this book touches on this topic quite a bit. *General Spoiler Alert* Henry, the main character, time travels. Obviously. However, the reason he can do this is because events in his life have already happened/are simultaneously happening all at the same time. No matter what time period he's in and no matter where he appears, it's impossible for him to change life because everything has already happened and things are already planned out. This concept was incredibly hard for me to follow for awhile. I finally understand it in the context of the book. Nevertheless, I do not agree with this idea. I'm fascinated by the idea that things are happening at the same time as things in the future are happening, but all of this is too difficult for my human mind to even fathom. *End of Spoiler Alert*

Forever or life itself is a confusing concept for everyone. The idea that every single part of our life is planned out and things are "destined" to happen is an idea that is impossible for me to grasp. If this is the case, why are so many people living in terrible conditions? I feel fate is our way of trying to make sense of life--a life no one can truly understand until its over. Fate is a comforting factor that allows us to not feel guilty about our mistakes and choices.

Despite this argument of mine, I do feel like there are a lot of things we can not control. I believe a lot of things do happen for a reason, but the reason is because we made a choice. As I said before, I believe our choices lead us to other choices and lead us to our destiny. I do not believe the whole thing is planned out for ourselves. I guess my beliefs are more towards freewill than anything, but I'd like to hope there's fate somewhere out there. Fate is a comforting factor, and it allows many of us to carry on and hope for the future. We all need that hope sometimes.

I'm not gonna stop making choices and chasing after what I want just because someone tells me "if it's meant to be, it's meant to be." I will, however, keep the idea that I'm on a path with many possible consequences. There's a life out there waiting for me and all I have to do is make the specific decisions to lead me there. We'll see how it goes and what my path is like. This was all very Robert Frost of me.

Anyone else think about fate and freewill? Anyone else's opinions differ? I love seeing people's point and arguments on topics like these. It's interesting to see people's stances on life and choices and the future.