Most people believe in fate sometimes.  On a daily, mundane basis you probably don’t think about it all that much. It comes to the fore when something either extraordinarily wonderful or terrible happens.

The notion makes us feel cared for when the felt fated event is joyful and it makes us feel lonely when the outcome is devastating.  To be loved or cursed.  “Why do all these terrible things keep happening to me when I’m such a good person?”, we lament.  Something is not right in the world when we choose to be honourable and can’t seem to catch a break. The notion of fate can then make us feel targeted.

Aside from good luck or bad, what makes us think something was fated to happen?  Is it because there was such a small window of timing for the wondrous event to take place?  Is it because we dreamed of the happening beforehand?  Or perhaps because it feels like no matter what we do, the outcome is habitually positive or negative?  Indeed, if everything in our lives is fated to be, why make any effort at all?

Being Somewhere at the Right Time is Everything

The question is, “Who or what controls the strings of our destiny?”  A deity, ourselves or some other machination that is comprised of many factors and influences?  For example, if it is my fate to meet you, then we shared a thread of common fate which has led us to this point of joining.  Fate therefore is comprised of many threads and if any of those single threads were to break then our joining would be missed.

We’ve all met someone we’ve felt a special connection to and noticed the timing was off.  One of us was on our way out of town, or just gotten married, or on our death bed.  Of course, that was our fate but that won’t stop us from groaning, “Why now?”  Being at the right place at the right time is everything.  Can that be arranged? Wouldn’t we like to think so!  Fate drives us to reach more deeply into our emotional core where fear and desire wage a bloody war.

There is a dearth of books on the market that promise that if you do the right thing; visioning a beautiful and abundant future for example, it will come to you.  How do we reconcile this notion when that just isn’t the case?  Because the truth is that terrible things do happen to good people.  And wonderful things do happen to selfish bastards.

The Wheel of Fortune

Are there ways we can glimpse into our fated future?  I’m a specialist in this regard since many do consult me as an oracle to glimpse their fate. Being placed in the occasionally, unfortunate position to describe a less than desirable fated future is a challenge. I couldn’t count how many people have come to me for a reading exclaiming that they had just spoken with another psychic who promised a rosier future.  Many psychics find it too unpleasant to relate an ill begotten fate, so they opt for the happy ending narrative.

The Tarot features a card which specifically addresses this concept of fate; The Wheel of Fortune,  “When you draw the Wheel, you are approaching one of those moments in life when Fate does take a hand in your affairs. Strange coincidences, fortunate meetings, and lucky breaks can all shape your destiny at this time.  You may feel as if your life script has been written by someone else.” (The Illustrated Book of Tarot by Jane Lyle)

In a classic interpretation, the Wheel of Fortune heralds a change coming in our fortunes for the better. It might work best for us (from a fated perspective) if we suffer now because that is the mechanism that will initiate changes in our lives for ultimately the better but certainly in a reading today that won’t be a welcome bit of news.  It might for example take decades for the good of the bad to become evident.  Who wants to embrace misery until the good makes its welcome appearance?

Adapting to Change

We don’t have control over everything and there are times in our lives when, for some mysterious reason, it becomes opportune to be given that message.  When fate steps in to throw us a curve ball, it’s an opportunity to contemplate our lives from a whole new perspective. Maybe fate’s true purpose is to urge us to ask ourselves important questions; such as,

“Is what I think I want, truly what I want?”

“Am I getting what I asked for and didn’t realize it?”

“What have I been missing that is more about what I need as opposed to what I want?”

“Am I pushing an agenda that the universe is declaring loud and clear, THIS PATH IS NOT FOR YOU?”

When Lady Fortuna takes charge of our lives, it’s likely more a lesson about adapting to change.  Those who survive are those who are good at adapting.  Is there a way to know your fate?  I like to think there is and that knowing your fate beforehand is an integral part of your fated future.  We might not be able to alter our fate but it can help when we’re prepared.

The best description of fate I ever heard was that it represents a dance between opportunity and character.  Being prepared is character, being in the right place at the right time is opportunity.