命运

Do you believe in fate?

Is there a road laid out before you leading towards destiny? And will straying from this path possible? And who exactly walked has this path before you to make it so 顺利 for lack of a better word?

Frost took the path less traveled, but did not dare mention the possibility blazing his own path. And what about today? The decision placed before a person like myself might be more aptly described as the hub innumerable city streets, high speed highways, and air routes. Were the decision as simple as two paths, trampled and untrampled, perhaps the idea of fate would seem less appealing. The number two is prime for analysis: Yes or no? Good or bad? Will or won't? The word "or" was designed for dissecting 2. The human mind can handle 2. But how does our vocabulary reflect 3? Shakespeare's love triangles end in tragedy. 4? Descartes' Cartesian quadrants. 23? Micheal Jordan? 383? 9630? 1.3435? We spend enough time defining our lives with bipolar pairs of words. Can we really handle an infinite amount?

Of course, this is assuming less is simpler and more is more difficult. Computers don't drive cars (at least not yet) because they can't handle the "infinite" amount of variables necessary to make left turns at an intersection. They lack judgment. But that being said, humans can rarely decide between paper and plastic.

And yet, despite it all do you believe in fate? A single road calling your name to come home. Interestingly enough, I base my most of my theories about fate on a cheap teen movie, Can't Hardly Wait. The protagonist, Preston, is graduating from high school, and he thinks- No- he knows this girl (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt) is the one. All the signs point to it. I mean, this girl's eats his favorite flavor of Pop Tart. And throughout high school he watches from afar, as she dates the quarterback. And on the last part of high school after graduation, he wants to give her a letter about it all, but chickens out or something, I forget. But the point is he throws the letter away, but it finds its way to Jennifer Love Hewitt anyway. She reads it and is moved, but Preston's already left and she has no idea who he is. 当时, he's sitting on the hood of his car despairing over the cruelty of fate, when he realizes or the song he's listening to makes him realize: Destiny exists, but there comes a point when destiny can't work on its own, a point where you decide to jump or not to jump. In other words, the destiny's path can be effortless if you want it to be, but there comes a point when it needs a little faith.

Anyway, he gets the girl, and I've based a lot of my ideas about fate on this movie. (interesting, how media is affecting our lives these days) The lessons we learn in class, read in books, see on TV, always emphasize the one's ability to seize fate when it comes before you. Some may say it is simply seizing the opportunity, but I think there's still a subtle difference that is not mentioned on all these stories: The ability to see clearly, even if it isn't clear to others, and trust it. How did Ali know he was The Greatest? We look at Ali's work ethic, his lyrical sayings, and his records. But how did he know that boxing was worth it? When he was 11 or 12, his brand new bike was stolen, and he was pissed. So he went looking. He came across a gym, and knew that in addition to getting his bike back he wanted a little vengeance. And so he started boxing. But how did he recognize it? How did Preston convince himself that the Pop Tart thing was not a coincidence? It's so easy not to believe in fate, to let decide to stop following a path that has been tailored especially for you because it doesn't add up.

Yet things catch our eye. Things that computers wouldn't see: Pop tarts and stolen bikes. And these signs give us what Intel would define as "irrational" hope. But when is hope rational?

I'm sitting here in this coffee shop. What catches my eye? The inside of my coffee cup reflects the intervals of my sips with tree-trunk-like rings of dried coffee. But the Bob Marley in my headphones has sung about 15 songs now, but I couldn't tell one. And what does this say about my fate?

One, I might have a lot of trouble sleeping tonight. Caffeine after 5 o'clock rarely agrees with me.

Two, I don't really think it means anything in relation to my official future, but who knows. Maybe, somebody will read this post and be moved by my words and invest in me. Or the girl of my dreams will realize that she also has noticed that her coffee cup is painted with rings of five minute sips. But a computer my computer predicates, nothing much will happen. But who knows?

What does this ramble add up too? I think I'm destined. I always have. But I fear I don't have what it takes grasp destiny when it presents itself. Actually, I change my mind, I don't believe in fate, except for the fact that if I keep writing I'll be fated to fail my midterm.




me and my chinese roommate actin' gangsta.