Take, for example, the choice to begin playing Guild Wars back almost four years ago; without this choice I would not have met Alf, who in turn introduced me to Mark. Before that could happen I needed to make friends with Hayley. If I hadn't met her she would never have spoken to Ash, she would never have formed a relationship with him, and it was him (ultimately) that convinced Hayley to move to AoM and her who convinced me to move... AoM was where I met Neil who introduced me to Alf, who introduced me to Mark. Had Alf not fiddled with the guild secret santa results last year I would not have made friends with Mark at all.
Some of these choices (such as the one to speak to Hayley), were active choices, and some where slightly more passive. I was active in most of them, but sometimes my path was the only thing dictating the outcome. If I take the decision to leave Alex as an example; for so many years I had been making the choice to leave and then disregarding it, but I had been making the right choice all that time, despite not acting on it. Because that's what it takes more than anything: action.
It's fine to say that you're going to do something, or think that you will do it, but if you don't act on it the decision makes no difference whatsoever. The decision to leave Alex was probably the best I made it a long time, but only when I acted on it.
The other part of these thoughts is, of course, the question of whether straying from the path we're on makes a difference at all? Are these choices all planned out for us in advance? Is it "fate"? "Destiny"? Perhaps. But surely if we stand idle these things won't happen by themselves.
The way I see it, "fate" is the idea not that decisions are made for us, but that, because of the way we are brought up, our genes and our experiences, we are bound to make a certain decision. I was "fated" to get guinea pigs again because I had them when I was young and missed taking care of them; if I hadn't had them when I was younger I may not have purchased them. The fact that I did have them when I was a child again relied on how my parents saw pets for children, which relied on their own upbringing.
I guess what I'm trying to say, is that there are so many variables in every single decision we make. Depending on your point of view these variables either expand or contract the decision making it either complete chance or inevitable. But whatever your view of the world, I'd say that, because we can't see far along our paths, "fate" is just an idea and it doesn't really matter all that much. In the end it all feels like it's real, does it really matter if it's not?
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