How To Be Master Of Your Fate
By Terry Weber
Article Word Count: 479
According to my dictionary "fate" is defined as: (1) Principal, cause, or will held to determine events, (2) End of outcome.
Let me tell you a story about a retired farmer I know who was very good at managing his "fate." Howard, who is now semi-retired, has been farming the few acres around his old farmhouse for many years. He grows vegetables (corn and tomatoes) to sell to his customers at his small roadside stand. He also grows a wide variety of (field grown) nursery stock. He learned a long time ago that there is always a steady demand for those products by the people who stop again and again at his stand all summer long.
We could say Howard determines and manages the "fate" of his garden's produce (and his own success) in advance because each year, during the winter and in the spring, he thinks about what to plant to meet the needs for products that his steady customers would need later in the season as the various times to harvest his crops come around.
Obviously, Howard is a successful farmer. In addition, you have to admit he knew how to use his brain during the long winter, as he thought about how the outcome of all of his efforts such as: planning, planting, cultivating, weeding and harvesting would help him help his customers meet all of their needs for his top quality vegetables and shrubs.
You and I can, in much the same way, follow Howard's example in the management of the fate of our lives. As we plan our daily activities, we need to think long and hard about what we are going to do that day. In short, we need to concentrate our thinking and attention on what we believe is most important in our lives as well as decide how what we do can benefit the lives of those around us.
We should decide to do simple but important things like giving each person we see a smile, or a helping hand, some thoughtful advice, or even a few loving, caring words of encouragement. We need to strive to see others and what they do without judgment and just accept them as they are and for what they strive to be. We must learn that when we give compassion, we will, in return, receive it also. We need to forgive others so we may then be forgiven. We need to try to understand the hearts and minds of people around us who are different. These actions can help us be aware that all people are not the same nor does God mean them to be.
Finally, each of us, by making use of our God-given ability to think, learn, and help others can always exercise the power within us to be the masters of our fate.
Terry L. Weber
