Free Choice??

I had an interesting thought this morning…I realized that sometimes we have to be in places we dislike in order to get where we need to be…and was presented with another perspective—that sometimes it Is just bad choices.  It is a confusing concept to write out, but I think the answer to this dilemma could be answered or based on one’s life philosophy or even religious view.   Regardless of the religion, be it Christian, pagan, Hindu, Buddhist or whatever else, there is always a god figure which has exclusive control over your life and where he/she/it wants you to be and become.  Many times, the impact of this concept of destiny cannot be seen until after things happen that would make one question it.  For example:  Joe is living in a place thinking that he went there for a job when in reality he made a connection there that will enable him to do something that he holds as a life desire.  He really loves to paint landscapes and at his job (which has absolutely nothing to do with painting or art) he happened to meet a person that connected him to an art gallery owner (that person’s childhood friend) that just happens (coincidence?  I think not) to love his particular take on landscape painting which got him the opportunity to show his work, thereby making him a famous artist.  Some would consider this whole scenario as a group of coincidences that just happened to elevate this person to a place he secretly wanted (and worked his way up to) to be anyway—I say pish posh.  In my spectacular opinion, a thing is meant to happen or it isn’t.  Does this mean that the coincidental folks are wrong?  No, not at all is the answer.  As I said at the beginning of this blog, it is a matter of perspective. The crux of this is whether you are an optimist or pessimist.  I consider myself an optimistic pessimist.  That is, I am in a positive frame of mind most of the time, though sometimes, I cannot help myself and will wallow in my self-pity.  That being said: I am also a firm believer in pre-destiny (that which is destined to happen) and that my choices are not free choices.   Regardless of your own level of optimism, there always seems to be a guiding hand to what you are doing vs. what you want to do.  We live in a culture that nurtures this concept of fate and pre-destiny.  We have all heard the phrase that it was “God’s will” that this happened or that you were “fortunate” in that case that it wasn’t worse.  These all lend credence to my own philosophy.  Kind of ironic really that I am writing this blog in the hopes that I get discovered when I truly believe that it will happen if it is meant to happen.