Do we have a chosen path?

Do we chose what happens in our lives, or are our lives set in stone even before time began? Is there an exact plan that has been predestined for us. Many people continue to wonder about this and continues to be a topic of disscussion that debates arise over all the time. It is a question far from my reach but possible to provide some insight into the understanding of it and maybe give some predictions. One cannot think about predestination without thinking about the all powerful lord. I beleieve god does have some sort of map that guides our life. Thus, if God is all knowing, then He knew who we were going to be before we were born and every decision we make as well. However, I believe He also made us with a choice or “free will”. I beleive that this free will chouse allows me to live my life not worrying about what happens and not stressing about to much, whatever happens is already predestined to happen and I can live with a purpose, I am in charge of my life.

In the book called Jasmine written by Beharati Mukherjee the main character is a Woman named Jasmine. She is a young girl living in northern India, and goes on to explain what life is like for her in India. The subject of predestination comes into play real quick in this book. From pages 50-51 we have Jasmine, her father Pitaji and her teacher Masterji. Pitaji states that Jasemines role in life is to have boys and run the home, she is predestined to be a home maker and give birth to smart boys. On the other side is Masterji wants Jasmine to further her education and become something more than that of what people expect of her. Jasmine is incredibly smart and Masterji does not want it to go to waste.

Jasmine will not fall into the expected, she will not become what every indian woman is predestined to be. She has a very strong sense of self and tells her father to his face that she is not going to become like all the rest. She tells her father that she chooses to be a doctor and set up a clinic to help others. Her active choice to follow her dream and not what her father says is her role in life and proves to me that she is not going to believe in predestination when she has the ability to choose for herself.

Jasmine has another side. She is not only an active girl who is going around defying what everyone says but she also has a passive side. Her passive side is shown when she runs to America. Jasmine goes off from India to America to further her education. A result from her earlier active defiance of her father and choosing to further her education ultimately turns into a passive choice as well. The fact that Jasmine ran away from India to America show a passive approach to her choice for her future. She left India to get away from the influence she was around. She didn’t want to become like everyone else in India, so she ran away. In America she began her studies and too another active stance on life. Soon jasmine again took a passive stance and moved from New York to flat boring Iowa. She ran from the New York life to go to a more simple life in Iowa thinking that it would do her good.

Life is full of both passive and active decisions that we must make, and sometimes the distinction between the two becomes quite unclear. I think that Jasmine is making a wise decision in not accepting the life that others think that she is predestined to live. In a sense, Jasmines destiny, along with all of ours, is predestined to be whatever we create our future to be based on the decisions we make in this life. Thus, God may have a plan for us, but I believe it is a guide not a setplan where we must follow all the steps. We as humans can choose to follow our plan but alter it as life comes to us.