Destiny

In life, we are all trying to create our destiny, we’re all looking to build our future.

The other day I noticed the similarity between the word destiny and the word destination. When you travel somewhere you need to know the destination or else you’ll get lost, and you’ll go around in circles. After all, how will you know you’ve got there if you don’t know where it is you are trying to go?

This is exactly the same with life. You need to focus on the destiny that you’re trying to build or you can get caught up with the distractions of life, and you may lose your way from where you are trying to go and what you are trying to achieve. This is a reason why you must set goals.

I decided to take a closer look at the origins of the word destiny. Below is a description I found online about the etymology of the word.

destiny (n.)
mid-14c., from Old French destinée (12c.) "purpose, intent, fate, destiny; that which is destined," noun use of fem. past participle of destiner, from Latin destinare "make firm, establish" (see destination).

As you can see it’s been developed from two words, the old French word destinée meaning ‘purpose, intent or fate’, and the Latin word destinare meaning ‘make firm or establish’.

This is interesting, as I think that these two words that ‘destiny’ derives from are in fact two vital elements in building your own destiny. First of all looking at the French word destinée, it has the meaning ‘purpose’ or ‘fate’. I believe that we all have things which we are completely passionate about, things that get us excited and fulfilled. These make up our purpose, and it’s so important to have the courage to listen to this passion and pursue it in your life.

In 2005 Steve Jobs said:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary”

The second word was destinare, meaning ‘make firm’ or ‘establish’. You must ‘make firm’ and ‘establish’ what you want to achieve, or else it will be easy to get distracted in your life and caught up with things that you don’t really want to be doing. By establishing a clear goal you can visualise where you are going it helps to ensure that you’re heading in the right direction. Having a vivid image of your goal can help you to make decisions, get you through obstacles and it can reignite your motivation towards what you’re trying to achieve.

Neither of these things on their own will help you create the destiny you want. If you follow your passion but don’t set goals then it’s just like leaving to drive somewhere without taking a map. You will end up going round in circles. However if you set goals that you aren’t passionate about, it’s like you haven’t filled up with fuel and you won’t make it to your destination because you will lose your motivation to do it. Your passion is the fuel that keeps you going!

So to help you reach your destination you have to use a map and fill up with fuel. 

To help you reach your destiny you must remember to make sure you fulfil your passion (destinée) AND set goals to achieve it (destinare)!