“Destiny doesn’t mean that your life has been strictly predetermined. Therefore, to leave everything to fate and to not actively contribute to the music of the universe is a sign of sheer ignorance. The music of the universe is all-pervading and it is composed on forty different levels. Your destiny is the level where you will play your tune. You might not change your instrument but how well to play is entirely in your hands.” Another great one by The Sufi mystic & Islamic scholar Jalal ad-Din Rumi – Rule#29 from the book 40 Rules of love by Elif Shafak – Read more below.

Two years ago, the following question occurred to me:

What is the difference between Destiny and Fate?

Why does everyone keep saying, this is your destiny, or this is just fate? what is the difference anyway? And if things are meant to be then what are we fighting for?

I kept searching for answers, asking people I love, people I felt are wise, people who I was interested to hear their input. I started to evaluate life, incidents, accidents, and concluding. After few month of living the question, answers starting coming to me. How? Serendipity filled my life. Coincidence, luck or call it Destiny or Fate started to take place. Things that were a little bit fortunate or unfortunate but at that specific time it all seemed to have a language of its own. Bumping into loved ones, bumping into long time acquaintance, getting into the most unimaginable accidents, and even meeting new people who end up changing my life.

Yes, all of the above happened to me within literally less than a month, I felt I can predict reasons, but then with time, it showed me different reasons, and so I realized that reasons either change according to time or they are simply always unpredictable even when they are predictable.

So i came down to the following conclusion: Fate; is what you have no control over; your parents, your siblings, your class mates, your kids, acquaintances, accidents, gifts, location etc… Destiny; is how you deal with them, where you take your relationship to, how you establish or sustain, how you act; positive or negative, how you feel; lucky or unlucky.

And Like Rumi puts it in the above quote: Fate is your instrument, it can not be changed for it is given to you, but how you play this instrument is your destiny, your choice, to use it or not to use it, to become a musician or to just frame it for display. To make beautiful memorable piece, or to make noisy and harsh piece. Your fate is what you have no choice over, your destiny is how you decide to act upon it.