Article by Roger Newcomb | Owl Staff
When I google the word “destiny,” the first thing that comes up is information regarding a video game called “Destiny.” Upon further review, these two definitions can be found by Merriam-Webster: 1) something to which a person or thing is destined 2) a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power or agency.
While most would agree with either of these two definitions describing “destiny,” I found myself having a completely different take on what the definition of destiny is and how that fateful word has played itself out in the woven fabric of my lifetime.
The first time in my life that I can recall hearing the word “destiny” was from the 1981 movie called “Clash of the Titans.” It comes about as a word used by Zeus when he is first appearing to young Perseus: “Find and fulfill your destiny.”
As a young and very impressionable boy, I gleaned two things about what destiny meant to me at the time: 1) It is something that is to be found 2) It is something to be fulfilled by the one whose situation is tied up into said direction or destiny. I suppose this leaves most of us with two questions concerning our individual destinies. Where do I find my destiny, and what do I do to fulfill it once it is found?
Now to think upon the many directions I have had laid out before me in order to find my destiny.
Was it telling my grandparents as little boy that I wanted to be Roy Rogers when I grew up? How about all of those hours spent imagining flying combat jets and then that turning into an illustrious career as an international airline pilot? Policeman? Fireman? Professional football player?
It seemed that without a set path laid out before me by my parents, my destiny would rely on the things that I chose to do with my time, resources, and life. As far as my own destiny was concerned, I never felt like it was a “path laid out” before me. I always felt like a person’s destiny, mine in particular, was a combination of things that are and things that are made to be, but “changing of the stars” or a “commoner becoming royal” seemed like far-fetched ideas born in the minds of writers and Hollywood fantasy makers.
“I find that it’s a combination of what is right in front of oneself and where such an individual wants to aim their desires, dreams, and wishes.”
So where are these destinies to be found if not on a laid down, beaten, and time-tested path that generations before us endured to be able to make sure that these paths are not only negotiable to those inheriting those paths, but readily available to all that might set their mind’s eye on such?
I find that it’s a combination of what is right in front of oneself and where such an individual wants to aim their desires, dreams, and wishes.
If destiny is only about a path that is laid out before us, then all we have to do is take a good look down at the ground before us, and there it is. I think that Zeus was short one “f-word” in his communication with Perseus. He said “find” and “fulfill,” but I believe that he needed to include the word “follow.”
I suppose that it goes without saying, but I can surely go about finding something that needs to be followed and upon discovering it, choose not to follow it.
Where’s does all of this lead me as far as finding and fulfilling my own destiny? Today, I find myself in a location doing things that I could have never imagined doing throughout my lifetime. My destiny seems to be woven into the fabric of a beautiful piece of land along with the thirty-five or so animals that inhabit it.
Am I finding and fulfilling my destiny? Is my destiny to serve those that have a greater purpose than my very own? Will I not find that my own personal destiny was to be a part of somebody else’s the whole time?
I tend to think of my destiny as something that I look back upon and say to myself, “Oh, there it is!” The fact is that we’re all in this together, and I’m going with it.
Find, follow, and fulfill your destiny!