Destiny is just a large number of random coincidences in life

Eric Ariel Salas

Eric Ariel Salas

Do you believe in destined love? Do you believe that someone out of the billions of humans alive is predestined for you, like it’s already written in the stars, and all you need to do is watch, wait and wait more for the right time to present itself to you in the right place?

I am thinking: how could destiny take place if the person you are predestined to be with is imagining the same way as you do and is also closely watching and waiting for the right time to present itself in the right place? Two parallel thoughts remain parallel unless one deviates and looks for convergence. Would you ever catch a shooting star if you just run along its path instead of towards it?

Destiny takes a lot of time before you realize its occurrence. Or is destiny just a simple disguised coincidence; that the meeting of two people or thoughts or hearts happens because of coincidence or luck and not destiny. Destiny cannot be forced into you. It just happens, they say. When it does happen, you will know, they say, too. But what if destiny comes too late and its full realization will not mean anything anymore? Where is destiny delivering the goods in there?

Someone said to me that if a very surprising event transpires in your life that you don’t anticipate happening, like meeting a friend you haven’t seen for 10 years, it is coincidence. But if the meeting transforms into something worthwhile and changes your life forever, it is destiny. In the movie Serendipity, was it luck or destiny playing for Jonathan and Sara? It sounds like destiny. Jonathan said, “Life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences, but rather it is a tapestry of acts that culminate in an exquisite, sublime plan.” The plan, that pattern of the universe, is the one defined by destiny.

Young Juan meets young Maria. Juan courts Maria. Maria says yes. Juan and Maria enjoy their relationship for three years. Juan leaves for greener pasture abroad. Juan falls into temptation and finds Elena. Maria, left in desolation, finds Pedro, a shoulder to cry on. Juan marries Elena. Maria marries Pedro. To cut to the chase, Elena dies of terminal disease. Pedro commits suicide. Fast forward: Juan meets an old flame, Maria. At the age of 35, they fall in love the second time and finally marry. Pause: at this point of the story, is this destiny fulfilled?

Play: Juan and Maria live their lives happily together, but not for long. After a decade the two decide to call it quits, file a divorce due to irreconcilable differences. Both now live in separate lives. Is this still destiny? If it is, then where is the predestined love destiny promised all along? If it is not, then how will you call it, failed destiny?

If indeed there is someone out there predestined for each one, I want to know what to do to connect with that someone. If destiny needs a scratch on its back and a helping hand, then I am willing to lend mine if that is what it takes for destiny to happen at the right time. I want to see how Juan and Maria manage to see their soul mates — the beings destiny assigns for each of them for forever.

Huh, what if destiny is never destined to occur? Tell me.