Page 16 - Corette-May-2022

Choose your own

Fate… How sad to think that nothing can affect your life in the end, no matter how hard you
try. No good, no action, no nothing. So, should we really believe in this concept of fate, that
we make no difference in our outcome, that our decisions are meaningless?

In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is called to the fate of marrying his mother and killing his father.
Now let’s think of this in a realistic sense. Would this ever actually happen? No, because
these stories are fictional for a reason. These are used for the entertainment of an audience,
to thrill and bring curiosity from a character living in constant tragedy.

Unfortunately, we use this idea of fate out of its fictional context when we want to make
excuses. When things are going wrong in our lives, we tend to blame it on something else,
right? In this case, it’s fate. We use this imaginary concept to justify our actions and use it
as an excuse to not change for the better. We all know that we’ve done this, including me,
to avoid guilt or consequence. Instead of trying to change, we fully dive in and accept fate.

This reminds me of the phrase, “it is what it is”. I don’t like this idea when it is used before
an action is done, because it suggests that there is absolutely nothing we can do, so we
should just accept it. Does this mean that people advocating for change and the environ-
ment is pointless? Is it really the earth’s fate to be misused and harmed? If we use this out-
of-context idea to make excuses and discourage people from being better just because it’s
“fate”, then we’ve got it all wrong.

One thing that we can control is our perception. Every single person sees something differ-
ently; we’ve learned that in politics, news, school, and day-to-day interactions. Our percep-
tions also help us make decisions because it is subjective. Personally, I think that one of the
great beauties of life is that we can use our perception and decision-making in our freedom
to choose. Fate ruins this beauty of life that is given to us, but our decisions that we make
and how we make them are what makes us unique. Our lives are like a “choose your own
adventure” book. There is a chain of decisions that keeps on multiplying any time you make
one. But do all the options that you could pick lead to the same result? No, of course not,
because different decisions lead to different outcomes.

I hear the phrase “everything happens for a reason” (maybe a little too often), but I still be-
lieve it to be true. Now don’t get confused with this and the idea of fate- this expression is
not referring to the idea that everything is destined to be, but it is saying that we can learn
and grow from those things. In other words, whatever decision we make, either this or that,
it doesn’t matter, we can learn from all experiences in life.

So, what should we think when someone mentions fate? The answer is, don’t. Don’t let it
influence your perception, don’t think about it, don’t even let it cross your mind. Don’t let
something that does not exist control you. Instead of believing in society’s excuses of fate,
let’s live based on our own free will, and let life be your “choose your own adventure” book.

16 Corette page designed and written by Malainna Adler ‘2 4