A musician sang a song, in which he says ” I wanna know my destiny.”
I therefore, decided to reflect on this question:
Do human beings have a destiny?
Have you also asked yourself if that is a realistic issue?
We have all been made to believe that everyone has a destiny right?
Well, the question is, who sets that destiny, when and how?
Have you asked yourself ,whether or not, you have a role to play in the realization of that destiny?
I guess you answered yes.
If you think you have a role in bringing your destiny to pass, then what is the meaning of destiny?
Destiny, according to Google, is “the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future.”
Take a critical read of the components of the definition. Let me ask you to lay emphasis on “NECESSARILY.”
Furthermore, check its synonyms : automatically, as a matter of course, certainly, surely, definitely, incontrovertibly, undoubtedly,
unavoidably, of necessity, by force of circumstance, inevitably, and inescapably. ( accessed at same source referenced above. )
While you reflect on the words making the definition of destiny, and the accompanying synonymous words provided, let me ask you another question.
Having read the meaning of destiny, can you say, without your input destiny will not come to pass? If you answered yes, then you misunderstood the importance of the synonymous words provided above.
It is clear from the meaning of destiny that it is something that must come to pass, whether rain or shine.
Is it, therefore, realistic, that everyone’s life has been pre- arranged?
And if yes, how do we know it?
Can we use the life we live here on earth, to deduce when one achieved his destiny? That is, a time we can emphatically state that this is a destiny fulfilled?
A basic assessment of the experiences in this life revealed some fundanmental realities:
No person, who starts life as a poor person automatically becomes rich by the end of his life transition. Some attain richness, others still die poor.
No person, born in riches, remains automatically rich, till he dies. Some end up being poor.
It takes several practical efforts, including hard work and determination to attain richness, or remain a rich man for life. That is when one is fortunate to be born with a silver spoon in the mouth.
There are those who also work hard and with determination, but could not realize what they wanted, as such, probably die poor.
There are others, who also die a miserable death; accidents, diseases, murder, hunger, and other mysterious deaths.
Can you say they were destined to suffer such fates?
Or you think they did not listen, or behaved well in life, or some devil interrupted their smooth destiny, hence ended up in such a way?
Well, if you accept the latter, then be reminded that, a destiny must automatically come to pass. Therefore, nothing can stop it.
The preceding matter leaves us with the question: Does a human being have to necessarily contribute to his destiny for it to come to pass?
If you answered yes, then read the definition of destiny again. It is independent of external influence.
So , do all human beings have an end of life, which is predetermined?
The facts will speak for themselves.
It cannot be said that in determining the end of life, of a human being, it was decided that he should die poor, as we have witnessed over the years, among the homeless and the downtrodden.
It cannot be said that in determining the end of life of a human being, it was decided that, that child should not live to celebrate his 20th birthday.
It cannot be said that, in deciding the destiny of a sitting member of Parliament, it was arrived at that he will be stabbed in the abdomen, by a young man.
The armed robber who succeeds in his robbery operation, cannot be said to have had his success predetermined for him by invisible forces.
The prostitute, who had clients coming her way, cannot be presumed to be destined to succeed in such a trade.
The slave cannot accept that the ill treatments he received was predetermined by some mysterious powers.
The oppressed cannot be happy knowing that such tyrannical practices unleashed on him, by the oppressor, was a pre- arrangement, before he was even born.
The African poor cannot accept that his poverty in the abundance of plenty natural resources, was a destiny fulfilled.
I can go on and on. Many of such unusual and painful incidences illicit several questions in your mind. But you choose to ignore it. You do so, because your thoughts must be limited to a preconceived truth that such things could be a destiny at play. That, it is meant to happen and that is why it happened.
Imagine what will be our faith, if the rice farmer decides to plant a seed and forget about it, because it will grow anyway.
Imagine if the cocoa farmer decides to dump the cocoa seeds on the ground, and go home to sleep, until it germinates.
Think about a police officer ,who decides to sleep on duty, because, what will happen will happen anyway.
Think about the student, who refuses to learn, because, he is destined to pass his examinations .
Think about the employment seeker, who submits his/her applications, but decides not to follow up on it, because, it has been revealed that the position is already set for him or her by unknown spirits.
Sad to say, thinking this way creates room for us to accept mediocrity. It helps us to rationale our inactions. It gives us the opportunity to conveniently blame our failures, as a people on things unseen. Failure to achieve an efficient system is by our own miscalculations and misjudgment.
Opportunities do not create themselves. It is a collection of proactive, conscious, consistent and targeted activities that bring them forth.
A great man, Ralph Waldo Emerso, once said: “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
It is William Jennings Bryan, who also said, “Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
In a nut shell, you take your “destiny” into your own hands. You work towards it. It is not predetermined for you.
The cause of our shortcomings have to be investigated. Not that we use a preconceived sayings, or beliefs to explain the occurrence. We should avoid hasty generations in the affairs of this life. Every events of life is as a result of our actions or inactions. We must learn to do introspection.
If fatal accident happens, it is investigation that must be conducted to determine the cause. You cannot conclude on cause, without even conducting any preliminary accident investigation. The cause of death is determined by a post mortem. Accident is not a cause of death.
An armed robber who is arrested in the course of a robbery expedition, has himself to blame, for not being on top of his game.
Others have succeeded in robbing more than that.
The developed continents Africans go to with cups in hands, for a token aid worked for it. It was not their destiny to be rich, while Africans remains poor, and in the words of Tony Blair, “a scar in the conscience of humanity”.
Africa must work to achieve the future that she wants, and Africa is the people living in her.
The people of Africa must create their own world, which will be the envy of many. We are not destined to be poor.
We are not destined to be beggars. We cannot continue to beg for aids, when the resources used to enrich the developed countries come from our continent.
There is no destiny to know. You cannot wait to see your destiny. You create it. You work at it. You achieve it, all by yourself.
The solution starts from our mindset. What we accept as absolute truths in Africa is amazing.
What we make a top priority in Africa, is ironically, at the bottom of the scale of preference, for the developed countries, yet we want to be like them.
We want to be counted as a developed country and continent, but we are not prepared to change our priorities. We are not prepared to do away with the old mindsets, that retard our collective efforts. We allow ourselves to be conditioned to think in a particular way. “What our slave master told us is the truth, the absolute truth, and nothing, but the whole truth”. And we are very proud of it. Whoever finds faults with the system handed out to us by the imperialist is treated as a foe. A misfit. An infidel. A stubborn non conformist. A deviant. We must chase him. Bring him to order. He may be running mad. He is being controlled by something. If the slave masters left with us, an absolute truth, and good things that will make us great and strong, then why are we still the poorest people on earth? Dr. Kwame Nkrumah told his colleague African heads of state more than 50 years ago, that “Africa is rich, and not poor. It is Africans , who are poor”, and that they are poor because of the “uncounted profit that has been made out of the exploitation of their labour and their lands”.
Is the state of Africa a destiny fulfilled? Should we accept the way things are as predetermined? Do we take it that, we were originally meant to be at par with other continents, but the hands of the devil interrupted it up to now?