Is There A Difference Between Destiny & Fate?

i LIKE living in a magical world

if you look for the world to be magic it will be
if you look for the world to be mundane it will be

imo magic is just as real and ten times as fun

RyuJin wrote: for me 2 different things...

destiny is what's at the end of the journey

fate is all the stuff that happens along the way...

Kewl, I'm just the opposite.

I see destiny as circumstance which is pre-destined, but not a destination, and I see fate as a pre-destined 'end'. So fate would be a type of destiny. I've no idea which is correct but that's what I thought anyway
:S

V-Tog wrote:

Edan wrote: I don't believe in either... the only thing I know is what's happening now.

As someone who doesn't believe in predestination, or some 'guiding hand' on my life, it doesn't make sense to me to believe in destiny or fate.

Well I didn't ask if you believe in them...that's what the IP lesson is for

Haha, I'm just goofing around...don't take me too seriously!

But, even if you don't believe in it/them, the words must still represent a concept to you? You said "I don't believe in either", which implies distinction?

I said either because you spoke of them as separate things. If I see the terms, generally I read them to mean:
destiny: some preordained thing that will happen
fate: something that you give in to and cannot change.

Generally, I don't see that there's much difference.

I always thought of fate as in, this is fated to happen. like an end result.
Destiny as what we make, through our choices in life.
Although I don't think of either as set in stone.

from hot tub time machine:
"time's not linear, we just perceive it that way"...

the past, the present, the future...it's all connected...it all repeats itself...

while i think it's all connected ie cyclical, i also think that many paths branch off from it into new cycles...

elizabeth wrote: I always thought of fate as in, this is fated to happen. like an end result.
Destiny as what we make, through our choices in life.
Although I don't think of either as set in stone.

not even if a guy were to walk up and say the cheesy line:" you are my destiny"? lol

RyuJin wrote:

elizabeth wrote: I always thought of fate as in, this is fated to happen. like an end result.
Destiny as what we make, through our choices in life.
Although I don't think of either as set in stone.

not even if a guy were to walk up and say the cheesy line:" you are my destiny"? lol

the reason i got to thinking about this was because that conversation played in my mind

i was basically in a reverie about the changing fortunes of my love life when a really nice looking woman walked past me and we made eye contact and she smiled in a way i liked but she was on the phone and i thought it would be rude to be like "stop and talk to me for a minute"

one thing led to another and that idea "destiniy is where we end up, fate is the cool stuff that happens along the way" is where i decided was a good place to stop daydreaming

I think destiny and fate are two different things based on their relevance to our time on Earth. In the end, though, I think they eventually are kind of the same thing. Yay for contradictions! Basically, I believe that destiny is our main purpose in life and the lesson(s) we are meant to learn during our time; fate is the result of our actions on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly (etc) basis.

Depending on whether or not one believes in souls and reincarnation, my opinion on it may or may not make much sense. Fate is basically smaller than destiny, and is something that can be ultimately changed. It's basically just another word for 'consequence'. Fate is the consequence of our actions and molds how our destiny will be met. Things that were fated to happen will no longer be so due to an action/input from the flow of life; new things from this change may then be fated to happen. Therefore, fate is much more fluid than destiny. Destiny, to me, is basically just the big, super general picture of what our individual life is going to be like. The path that one takes is always changing, but no matter how one takes that path, it always ends in the same place--fate and destiny.

that is a more eloquent way of saying what i meant...

I recon destiny is the destination arrived at based on how your free will responds to the fateful moments of your path. No aspect is solid, but evolves in fluidity based on past outcomes. Only the past is solid. The future is infinite potentiality, though the chance of prospective threads coming to pass varies based on what you've learned from the past, how you respond to the present and which future you are putting effort towards.

To me, fate is a challenge that keeps life interesting, teaches a lesson, and a guide that reassures you are closer to the central path toward one of your potential destinies, or warns you are getting off track. My own journey is not a straight line, and my intended destination more of an area than a point. As long as I'm heading towards rather than away, even if the path I travel is almost perpendicular to the central path I take comfort in knowing I'm heading in the right direction and will arrive in time. No rush, see the sights, smell the roses. The more I try and force and run the route, the more fate intervenes to divert, ensuring I arrive when the time is right with the knowledge I need.