A writer on the topic on non-duality, I believe it was Wei Wu Wei, made an interesting analogy.

I remember that one really stressing me out when I was a toddler. The carnival was so loud that I had to cover my ears, yet somehow steer the car. So I dug my knees into the steering wheel and pressed my hands against my ears and went around and around frantically trying to coordinate both. My parents thought I was having fun, but if they looked closely they would have seen me concentrating with furrowed brows trying to avoid certain death. It took several rides over the next year to finally figure out all that worrying was unnecessary, that my only job was to shut out the distractions and enjoy the ride. An early life lesson, hahaha.

Total predestiny seems to contradict too many metaphysical truths without explanatory backpedaling or rationalizations. 

For instance, if all is totally predestined, then what is the use of the law of resonance?  (Like attracts like).  Why would a completely controlled universe need souls to attract or repel each other?  Why not simply arrange the pieces so that the right souls come into contact with each other and fulfill their scripts through proximity?   

Also, if you accept that evolution is a journey towards Oneness, then why does the Universe predestine so many souls to miss the onramp to Oneness?  ...You can argue, Well, She works in mysterious ways; maybe that guy's path towards Oneness is--somehow--through being a psychopath rapist, etc. etc.  But that's backpedaling; that's inventing an explanation to fit both your personal belief and the facts instead of re-examining your beliefs.

Of course, I don't know any of this for sure.  But these are my feelings.

Lemmni,

Thanks for your remarks but I am just as wise as Joe Piscopo and Danny de Vito on "Wise Guys".  Yikes!

Regards and Light to all of you,

Lee

Humility is the ultimate wisdom.

Thank you so much for your inputs.  I was not expecting this kind of response, but what do I know?  It is time to look within and ask the questions that have brought me to this point.  The answers are there waiting for me......... I just got to look deep and with conviction. 

Lemmni,

Thanks for your remarks but I am just as wise as Joe Piscopo and Danny de Vito on "Wise Guys".  Yikes!

Regards and Light to all of you,

Lee

Empowered Destiny

Here:

http://forum.noblerealms.org/viewtopic.php?id=2139

WE are Caterpillars - Doing what WE were Designed to do: Transmute > Transform > Transcend - And an Intimate aspect of that Design is Individual Choice.

In The Spiral, WE Oscillate as the polarities move through US:

One moment WE Feel at the affect of.......

The next, like the quote in # 3, which is the Essence of Empowered Destiny.

The Ancients have Harvested one of these especially for YOU - Take one and call YOUR Higher Self in the Morning.

I don't have all the answers here, when it comes to our HS or our destinies.    The thing I wish to get across is that worth the trouble to begin the movement in the direction of merging or become more aware of this higher part of us.   And if there's one being that can give you great answers on your own destiny, this is obviously our HS's.

I am beginning to think this concept sucks because it leaves me with absolutely nothing of significant impact to be decided while in the physical body.  It fuc*%#ng  sucks!

Sometimes in order to get our attention our Higher-Selves lead us down a dead end.   This is not to say that our HS's are misleading us, but it's more like a tap on the shoulder.   When you reach a point where everything seems to stop and you can figure out what to do or where to go, the only thing left is to go within.

Rather than ask for outward answers to this question you have, ask for inner ones.  Your HS is very easy to perceive, but you have to start somewhere.    Usually a tough question like this is a good starting place because you really want a good answer. 

All you need to do is say something like "Higher-Self, please show me a solution to this problem (state the problem), please help to to easily understand how this all falls together".

If you say that once a day, coincidences will happen, maybe even instantly, that will lead you to a fantastic answer, provided you stay aware enough to see it.

It really implies that the only significant "free will"  decision I have made occurred before birth when I chose the experience.  I am beginning to think this concept sucks because it leaves me with absolutely nothing of significant impact to be decided while in the physical body.  It fuc*%#ng  sucks!

I've wrestled with this issue as well. One sticking point might be viewing destiny from the linear time perspective where the future is a consequence of a set past. From that perspective our being born with destiny implies that the rest of our lives must be the undeviating unfolding of that destiny, like the trajectory of a stone being fated the moment it is thrown.

Another way to view destiny is that it's merely the orchestrations of your higher self employing its higher freewill from outside linear time. Your destiny may then change in accordance with your experiential needs, but since it affects past-present-future as a whole you may perceive the new destiny as the one that always was.

Then it is not a denial of your freewill so much as the lower part of your total freewill being unable to block the higher part. The higher part would be like the parent, as Lemniscate illustrated, and the lower part like the child. As a whole, you have all the freewill you need, but just as entering into contracts forces you to honor them later, so would a decision made outside linear time seemingly force you to conform to circumstances beyond your control while here.

In other words, your decisions may indeed be important if what you choose "down here" affects what you then choose "up there" -- somewhat like a student's choice influencing the teacher's choice of adjustments to the curriculum. If this idea holds water, then  1) you do have freewill, 2) what you choose does matter, and 3) you may still experience periodic orchestration of your experiences to advance the plot.

Might be like a choose-your-own-adventure book ... although you didn't actually write each scene, your choice is very important in deciding the final plot.

One of our greatest fallbacks is to think of ourselves as not children. Physically, yes, we are adults. But spiritually we are still in the development stage. I equate myself with the child mentality all too often. I struggle with my position in life. This has a lot to do with ego, with which I struggle constantly. "Don't I know what's the best for me? Shouldn't I be allowed to do whatever I want?" Obviously, no. I have not the omniscience nor the wisdom to do so.

Lee, I consider you one of the most wise and mature people on this forum. The quote below confirms it. Regardless of the intensity of your frustration, the truth of your heart comes out.

What if we just live life to its fullest potential?  Live life as though we can affect the now and that we can create our own paths?  We make our choices as we go along – and yes to a greater or lesser extent many of those choices can be influenced by what came before this moment - in whatever context you choose to look at that.  But that needn’t cause us to be dragged away from our present moment, or stop us from taking control over our life.

Way I see it - believing in a pre-planned life is extremely disempowering.  And even if it is all pre-planned, why would we have to live as though it is?  I feel giving in to such an idea is an excuse to hand away your personal power – yes, even if that power is a fleeting illusion.

Everything I have seen in life indicates to me that those who live an unconscious unaware existence simply get dragged along in the stream of what is occurring around them – quite often they feel life has control over them.  Where as those that come to consciousness and awareness, who live from extreme presence, take a degree of control over their destiny.  They shape their lives according to where they want to go.  Whether they make it or not isn't really relevant - it's the shear power they put into their journey that I always find awe-inspiring.

If there was any pre-life agreement, perhaps it was that we will have free choice whether or not to use our free-will – and all which that would entail.

People often tend to talk about what they “believe" , as opposed to what they feel.  A belief is an idea that we needn’t hold onto.  If something is true then it doesn’t require our belief.  If you find your belief wavering, then you are already starting to seek your own answers.  But that means you have to step out into the unknown – where you have to feel and observe.  That is far harder, yet far more fulfilling then simply “believing" .