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Will You Answer Destiny’s Call?

Sliding Doors is a movie that came out years ago with Gwyneth Paltrow, in which they alternate between two different realities based on her making it through the sliding door of the subway train when she is going home from work. If she catches the train, she also catches her husband with another woman in their bed. If she misses the train, then he is alone when she arrives (thus she doesn’t know he is cheating on her) and stays married to him.[su_spacer]
A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.
 –  Jean De La Fontaine[su_spacer]
In each parallel universe, she becomes a different person. How many split second decisions based on the timing of a moment can you think of?  How many alternate timelines could there be, where I was one minute later or earlier?  Would my life have drastically changed if a minor incident had not happened because of that one minute?[su_spacer]
Never assume that you’re stuck with the way things are.  Life changes every single moment, and so can you. 
  – Ralph Marston[su_spacer]
If my nephew had not chosen to walk through the park that night, maybe his random murder would not have happened.  Maybe he would still be alive.  Since I started LemonadeMakers as a result of his death, maybe I would have never started it.  So many possibilities stemming from a couple of maybe’s.[su_spacer]
In the search for your destiny, you will often find yourself obliged to change direction.
  – Paulo Coelho[su_spacer]
When I was last on jury duty, one night driving home, another car making a right-hand turn came into my lane and dented up my car. It was a case of he said/she said and since no one stopped to be a witness, we each had to pay our own deductible. Since like all of us, I am a work in progress, I had a hard time working through my personal feelings of “it’s not fair” and why do I now have to go through presenting my case to the state insurance board, etc……, because I am refusing to just roll over and take the $720+ hit to my finances.[su_spacer]
Part of reaching your destiny is in understanding your detours.
  – RonyEvans.org
 
When this guy hit me, I immediately went into how if I hadn’t been on jury duty, I would not have been in the intersection making this turn at that time.  I would have been through that intersection at least one hour earlier.  Either he would have not had an accident (because no one was in the lane), or he would have hit someone else. For me, jury duty was a sliding door. Not as big an impact as Gwyneth had in the movie, but a sliding door nonetheless[su_spacer]
No matter how many wrong turns you took in life, destiny will take you where you truly belong.  Wait with hope and a smile.  Destiny will fall in love with you and come to you.
  – Riy[su_spacer]
What is interesting about the movie is the ending. They take her back to the version in which she didn’t catch her husband in their bed with another woman. However, in this version, she is leaving him.  She caught him much later in the timeline having an affair. The final scene is with Gwyneth in the elevator.  In the elevator with her is the same man she had a relationship with in the other version.  Thus tying up the ending to mean that no matter whether she made the subway train or not, she was destined to be with this man[su_spacer]
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest achievement.
  – Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
So how much of destiny really occurs in our lives? Did my having a very minor accident with this man, which delayed me getting home about an hour change my destiny? Did the minor accident keep me from having a major accident further down the road? Was there a purpose to the accident, a meaning that I will get later in my life? This is one of my back shelf ideas or concepts. Back shelf ideas are things that I learn about and am curious about.  I am not yet sure if it constitutes a belief or not. Do your thoughts about things, become the architects of your destiny[su_spacer]
You are the master of your destiny.  You can influence, direct and control your own environment.  You can make your life what you want it to be.
  – Napoleon Hill
 
What is destiny really? How much does destiny or fate really play into our lives? How much does our desire to tie everything up into neat little bows, make us put fate or destiny as the causation of what happens to us? If destiny is true where does that put free will? Does that eliminate choice, and make it simply an illusion[su_spacer]
I am the master of my fate and the captain of my destiny.
 –  Nelson Mandel[su_spacer]
Then there is the concept of Karma. Is Karma a destiny that you have consequences for, as actions that play out throughout your life[su_spacer]
Sometimes when things are falling apart they may actually be falling into place.
  – Unknow[su_spacer]
I don’t have all of the answers. I think that all of them are right in some aspect though. I do believe in a core destiny, that we come to bring something to this world, or experience in this lifetime. I believe that we have free will and choices at every step of the way as we live our life.  We can choose to encompass that destiny or run away from it. I do believe in some sort of concept of karma, that our choices all have consequences, both intended and unintended[su_spacer]
Life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences.  But rather, it’s a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite, sublime plan.
  – Unknow[su_spacer]
I also believe that in each moment of our life, we have a new opportunity to make new choices.  We can always turn our ship around if it is off course[su_spacer]
The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.
  – Ralph Waldo Emerso[su_spacer]
The woman in the photo made the choice to climb up the cliff. Each moment she is making a new choice for a hand or foot hold to take her up to the next level. I think that we are all like this woman, choosing each moment to take ourselves to the next level. I would have chosen the rocky path on solid ground up to the mountain top.  I don’t think my heart could take climbing up the side of a cliff[su_spacer]
We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
  – William Shakespear[su_spacer]
Each path was a different choice, but the same destination would be reached. Is one wrong or right, or does it matter? What do you think?
Sheryl Silbaugh
Sheryl Silbaughhttp://lemonademakers.org/
SHERYL Silbaugh is a writer, speaker, and transformational coach. She is a Director at Bank of America. She is the founder of LemonadeMakers.org created to inspire people to transform grief into gold. In April 2010, Sheryl suffered the loss of her nephew, who was randomly killed by a gang member. The idea of LemonadeMakers came from her grief. She experienced firsthand the creative power of transformation. She started a small Facebook presence that has grown from 500 followers in July 2015 to over 47,300 in March 2017. She demonstrates how to take life’s lemons and make lemonade. She is a skilled guide for those experiencing transition or loss. When we let go of what no longer serves us, and open ourselves to our soul’s calling, we uncover the treasures of our experience and can let the rest blow away on the winds of healing. She aims to support people to create transformation in every area of their lives. She provides insights on how to collaborate together to manifest their dreams in The LemonadeMakers Club. She teaches how to explore our inner and outer world to see what needs to be transformed. She is gifted in her ability to see patterns in human behavior and asks just the right questions to start unlocking the doors to your life purpose and the unique personal genius that we all have. Her book, “Timeless Treasures” will be published the summer of 2017, a collection of over 90 essays on transformation.

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6 CONVERSATIONS

  1. I just watched a Amazon series called “The Tick” that makes several references to destiny’s call. Here’s a trailer for it —
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPN1D-VO7Lc

    The blue guy in the trailer, the Tick, feels that destiny has guided him to the guy with the wings, Arthur, so they can team up and defeat evil; that Arthur most accept his destiny on becoming a super hero. On the surface, it’s a superhero parody; but underneath it’s about someone who has low self esteem going on the hero’s journey — trying to figure out if the Tick is real, or just a delusion he’s experiencing from his post traumatic stress.

    Now, when I think of destiny’s call, I think of Arthur.

  2. I love this article! I do believe we all have a soul blueprint and there is an element of destiny sprinkled in. Through our choices, we are guided down a path….where a different choice may have put us on a different path. However, in my experience, I do believe no matter the path we purposely walk on or one we are guided down, there seems to be a plan already in place. The key is to pay attention and gain clarity on the messages, signs and symbols showing us the way. Sorry for your loss, out of which you are a blessing for others. ~Eileen

    • Thank you! I love hearing other peoples thoughts about destiny, free will, choices and decisions. It is so interesting in looking backwards how we can find patterns and links that seem to suggest exactly what you expressed.

    • You are welcome! There are “principles” at play in our daily lives that are intangible. I have studied, still do, the impact of our thinking (conscious and the subconscious) and how the mirror effect is reflective of choices/decisions/perceptions/free will. It is a fascinating field to delve into and the more I work with clients from their “blueprint,” the better my understanding of what makes us tick individually and as a mass consciousness, and how the world around us moves in unison with us…whether we have experiences that are roadblocks or uplifts us. Patterns, habits and beliefs are key…..

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