Hi reader

When was the last time you heard from someone, saying ‘Everything will be fine’? Everything that you are feeling, everything that has burdened you up, everything that you are waiting for, and everything that you are worried about, will be fine. How often, have you said to yourself, that things will ease out, and will be fine, one-day!

Yes, we all have been in the situation and heard from people saying that it will be fine. And, if not for ourselves, we said it to someone else, don’t worry, everything will be fine. But, do we know when? Or, how? And whenever, we asked this, to others or even ourselves, either we were quiet, or said, whenever destiny brings it! If we are destined to, then it will happen, sooner or later, but it will happen.

Since childhood, we are asked to put effort. Whether it is studies, hobbies, or sports, we are always motivated and asked, regardless of the result, to keep trying, and keep putting in our best effort. But, if we are destined to achieve it or not achieve it, what difference will our effort bring?

Is our life totally pre-determined, and destined to follow a path? Does all the experiences we have, are all bound to happen? And if everything is pre-defined in the Universe, then ain’t we all just mere puppets? What freedom, or independence do we have? What is the value of our actions? Why do we have to put effort, when every piece will fall just as is pre-defined in the Universe?

There could be some disagreements, that it isn’t totally destiny, but our actions matter as well! Our karma decides our fate. Okay, then why do we blame destiny, when despite all the efforts, we fail to achieve the objective? Why is it said, it might not be in our destiny? For instance, in sports, a team can put all the effort and bring their A game in every match of the tournament, yet, in the finals, they succumb to defeat, and we say, that it’s just a bad day, or not destined to happen. Why are destiny and karma, glorified and blamed, on a need basis?

And then, we have astrology, the science of predicting life events, based on the planetary movement in the universe. An astrologer does the observations and calculations and predicts the occurrence of life events or the timeline of when will things get better. Also, there are suggestions, like wearing a stone, will make things happen sooner. Does it really happen? Can wearing a stone, really change our destiny, or does not wearing it change destiny?

Yes, there is a lot of confusion, but what does matter? The Destiny? The Karma? Or the God? How do prayers help? How do the actions of our ancestors, change the course of our life? What does matter? When will everything be just fine?

Thinking of all this on May 5, made me curious to see what does Internet says about this, and I started to Google, Does destiny matter or the Karma, and here’s what I found:

• Source 1: Destiny matters, and so does the Karma. Yes both matter and co-exist. Our actions or karma performed consciously as well as unconsciously, create a pattern for our life. Based on our intelligence and judgments, learned and groomed in our life, we make the decisions (however it varies on how consciously or unconsciously we work upon it). Such decisions, in the longer run unknowingly make the situations, in either favor or against, and so our destiny gets formed, based on our actions or the Karma.
• Source 2: Just like source 1, karma is supreme (referring to the Bhagwad Gita). Karma or our actions make or break our life.
• Source 3: To get an understanding from the astrological science perspective. The birth chart (Kundli), is just like the opening balance of our life. Let’s relate it to the financial calendar. In India, 31st March is considered the closing day of one financial year, and April 1 is the opening day of the new financial year. On 31st March, we do all the closing of our financial transactions and statements from one financial year, and the next day, it’s a new beginning. Similarly, our death from the previous life is our 31st March, and the birth date in this life is just like April 1. Whatever the good or bad actions/karma performed are present in our balance sheet. Just like, the mistakes or successes in one financial year, can impact the course of the next financial year, the previous life events affect our current life. Those past life actions can affect the course of our current life or destiny. And just like we do financial corrections to control the current financial year, we do the corrections in our lives, to control the course of our current life. To summarise, karma matters, not only from this birth but even from the previous birth.
• Source 4: So how do God, devotion, and spirituality, affect our karma and destiny? Now, when actions are necessary, and it is our actions or karma, from previous birth to current birth, that nurtures our destiny, what role does God play? Does he have the power to control and bring change in our lives? Or is he present, just to take the blame, that we do if things don’t go in our favor? Do you agree and believe, that we have energies around us? Have you experienced the positivity or the negativity in your surroundings? Have you felt the Good Vibes or the Bad Vibes at the moment? I believe we all have. We all consume this energy. But can we harness it? What if someone harnesses the negativity, and becomes the destroyer? These energies have the power to influence our lives. Since we are always the consumers of these energies, we at times lose our control. To keep ourselves from reacting to these energies, we try to harness them or create the energy that could help us. We try to bring positivity around and try to create good vibes. And this requires great potential, guidance, and intelligence to get access and hold on to energy, to use it for good purpose. It is tough and requires strict rituals and practices to be followed with discipline. This is where God helps, as he is the one who balances all the energies in the Universe. Devotion to God, helps us bring positivity in ourselves. It brings us the faith and peace, that helps us to balance our energies, and then harness the positivity around us. This positivity creates an ecosystem to support our actions, and thus, nurture our destiny.
• Source 5: What do our ancestors, and their life events have to do with our life? Think of an olive tree, where the olives are not ripening, no matter how much water or medication you give to the tree. Now, to give it another try, you dig up to its roots and see the damages and scars in the roots, that need to be taken care of. You apply the medicine on the roots, care for the tree for a few days, and see the olives start to ripe. The tree is our life, and we are olives. The roots are our ancestors. If there is any trauma, scar, or pain in the roots, it fails to give the most important nutrients to the tree, water, and the tree starts to die. This is why, we have to be respectful, grateful, loving, and importantly, have acceptance in our life for our ancestors. Be mindful, that you never think of trying to forgive your ancestors, as forgiving means that you are above them. You can never be above them, as they came and existed before we were born, and we can only accept them as they were, and pay them respect, show them, love, so they could heal, and bless us with all the blessings, and make our destiny.

What I learned, everything matters. Our actions, karma, lifestyle, conscious and subconscious mind, past life events, the ancestors, the energy around, the God, everything counts, everything, to make our destiny. And the universal rule is, that destiny changes! Not suddenly, but over time, provided we put our actions and efforts in the right place. When the Indian Cricket Team won the ICC T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli said, that sometimes God makes things happen out of nowhere, and will shower more than what we could imagine. When will that happen, it’s not in our control, but what is in our control, the actions.

Also, some past life events or scars, might not be completely healed or can they be transformable, and, we may miss certain things in life. However, sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. The efforts put in to make ourselves better, might give us the result we wanted but help us reach a completely different milestone. The discipline, dedication, and devotion that we put in our actions, will certainly bring the fruits in our life, beyond the imagination.

Hence, we should always appreciate and be grateful for what we have. We might feel it’s not enough for me to be happy, or satisfied, but this day was also our dream someday. Accept it, and be grateful that it happened. Make your younger self in the past proud of the present you. Make the elder self (the future you) be inspired by your present efforts and dedication, just like you are inspired by your past self. Please, accept who you are, be grateful, and be loving to yourself, you have reached so far, and everything is just fine!

Forever yours,
Navneet