Fate is What You Make it.

My first inklings of fate came to me in Russian History Class. Unusual? Perhaps. It was 1985 and I was a senior in High School. I loved history and back then if there was a history class, I took it.

Never had anything resonated so much with me than the story of Czar Nicholas II and his family; specifically, his son’s struggle with hemophilia. That year, when I was 17, I was so moved, I donated blood to the Red Cross. I learned everything I could about hemophilia, and it was one of the few charities I donated to when I was in the military. Not only that, his family’s story was incredibly tragic, and my heart went out to his daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia. I read everything I could about Anastasia. Back then I bought every book I could about the Imperial family. I even wrote a “What if” book called “Across the Fickle Winds of History.” (Available on Lulu). Believe me, I know A LOT about the last Russian royal family.

Why? What compelled me? I grew up poor, though my father came from a middle class family. My state, New Hampshire, is small in stature and population, and it’s not known for much. In 1985, when I attended High School, I went to my after school job, then home, then hibernated in my room doing homework and daydreaming.

What compelled me, at 17 to become so emotionally invested in Czar Nicholas II and his family? Was it fate?

*****

To really chew on that question, I looked at the definition of fate. Per the Dictionary: Fate is an idea that events are predetermined and beyond human control. Simply put, I, as a human, have no control over the events that have resonated with me and shaped my life. I was fated to become emotionally invested in Czar Nicholas’s story. From there, that resonation was to deepen me for the next chapter of my life.

Ah, but was it fate? How do Christian’s view fate? What role does religion play in my interpretation of fate? Does it play in my personal interpretation?

Growing up, I was raised Catholic, but neither of my parents were die-hard Catholics. As a young girl, my mother would read me Bible stories. I did not consistently go to religious education classes. I made my First Communion late. After I was Confirmed, when I was 17, I volunteered to help the Religious Education teachers in the classroom. From 18 until 2020, I have been involved in teaching religious education classes in one way or another. Indeed, that Confirmation awoke the need for faith deeds in me. James 2:26: “Faith without deeds is dead.” While I didn’t have a traditional Catholic background growing up, I did grow up having a strong belief in God.

The Bible says of fate: Isaiah 46:10: “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient time what is still to come,” and Ecclesiastes 9: “Enjoy life while it lasts.” God, therefore, has given me Free Will, to make my own choices with the underlying implications that my choices fulfill the purpose He has for me.

Was I exercising Free Will when I was compelled to research, read, and learn as much as I could about the Czar’s story? Was that an event predetermined to occur so I could grow as a person?

****

I’ve talked about a significant fate event in my life, and defined fate using a dictionary. I’ve sought out God’s wisdom from the Bible regarding fate, and now I’ve one last avenue to explore – spirituality.

Religion and Spirituality are not the same, at least not to me. Religion is organized and compartmentalized, found in a place of worship with rituals and customs. Being spiritual is none of these for me. There is a belief in a Higher Power, a Creator. There is nature where you find evidence of the Creator’s work from deserts to the Arctic tundra. There is your soul which requires nourishment to grow via breathing techniques, simple foods, and introspection. Past life regressions have given proof of your soul, your higher self, and of reincarnation, a process that exposes one to the hardest of life’s lessons. In reincarnation, there is the life review when you are choosing a life to be born into. You look at snippets of potential future lives to determine the one you’ll pick and the lessons you want to focus on. You are predetermining your life with ‘markers’ aka checkpoints, where your Free Will decides to take your life in a certain direction.

Fate is what you make it. You plan your life. You plan your lessons. You plan your markers. Your Free Will at the time you hit your markers will take your soul on a path you choose to explore.

I have not done a past life regression myself, but I believe the Czar’s story and his family resonate with me because it means something to my soul and perhaps it is tied into my soul’s life lessons. Could I have known that at 17? No, but I do believe this was my first marker in my soul’s spiritual development.

That was my fate predetermined by my Free Will before I was even born.


Word Count: 887