Fate or Choice?

ByMatthew

Are our lives the result of fate or do we choose our lives?

Are we consigned to what our circumstances (/our pasts) allow for in the unfolding of our lives, or can we create our lives, can we be willful?

I just watched an interesting video from Marshall Goldsmith that offers a (hybrid) answer: Yes.

I found Marshall’s point (that both play a role) interesting and useful.

What’s most exciting to me is that this hybrid answer offers us a wonderful opportunity to 1) consciously create our lives (and understand the power we have to make our futures) and 2) to understand the role that our environment plays in our lives (and that we can make a numbers of choices in regards to our environments to shape them).

Either/Or thinking is seldom useful or correct (and sometimes dangerous).

When we understand the power we have, and the power of the things around us, we can make wise choices about what to do and what we (tolerate and) embrace around us.

What are you choosing? Does it serve you?

What’s around you? Does it serve you?

Similar Posts

  • Progress

    ByMatthew

    Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable . . . . Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. – Martin Luther King, Jr. So it is in life. Every step towards the goal of being one who lives with clarity, energy…

  • Just Sit Quietly for Three Minutes. Seriously.

    ByMatthew

    This week’s external resource is a transcript of an interview with Mirabai Bush. She teaches meditation and mindfulness. The article describes different programs she has been involved with and the myriad benefits of increased mindfulness: better listening, team work, stress and anger management and improved health. I want you to read the article, but more…

  • Fear and Passion

    ByMatthew

    I am interrupting my watching of Seth Godin on Jonathan Fields’ Good Life Project to explore an idea Seth presented. Brother Seth was talking about how people begin things and how whether they are 1) afraid and 2) if they care impacts what happens (if anything). I had an idea to map the idea, using a…

  • What You Have

    ByMatthew

    You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go. – Theodor Seuss Geisel Everything you need, you have. The only other thing is what…

  • Caveat Promptor

    ByMatthew

    Been away, haven’t seen you a while, how ya been? Anyway, 70s soft-rock references aside, I want to write something down and publish it – in the hopes of copyrighting it. The term has to do with Artificial Intelligence (AI), and how important it is to be skeptical and careful when using AI (at least…