**There is no conclusive evidence of the existence of a higher power, and so to _conclusively_ say that every person has a unique destiny to fulfil is wrong** When considering how one's life pans out, there are certainly a many number of factors out of our control. The conditions of your birth such as location in the world, class, family circumstances and education all have (to some extent) a significant impact upon the way you live your life. But to say that every person has a 'destiny' to fulfil assumes that there is, definitively, a planned version of your future. This can only be imagined. There are several reasons why the concept of 'destiny' is flawed: • Coming from the Latin meaning 'decree, prediction or fate', 'destiny' implies that every individual's future has been planned out, with the ending already imagined - there is no way of proving this • A potentially more convincing philosophical theory is determinism, whereby all events have already been determined by pre-existing causes - therefore, one's 'destiny' is unknowable and will only ever be fulfilled if it is inevitable to do so • Conceptions of destiny differ greatly depending on cultural and religious beliefs, therefore there is no one true definition of it Believing in a chosen destiny, however, is a potentially fruitful way to colour one's life. By making certain decisions based on what _you_ want the outcome to be, and allowing yourself to believe in free will, is much less likely to cause an existential crisis. Destiny, however, is something you cannot guarantee.

**we create our own destiny and that means sometimes we don't fulfill it.** - we choose our destiny as we get to know ourselves. the choices we make are what guide us there, not a higher power or some forces that control us. this means some people never get a chance to figure out their destiny. some give up. some never fulfill it despite their best efforts, and sometimes we decide there's a more meaningful goal to work towards so it changes. destiny is as complex as the individual who decides it and that means we can still have one even if we don't know it, or refuse to actively take steps towards it. destiny may exist in a completely way than which we imagine it. a more autonomous way too, since we have more say in it than we realise. - [each and every path that one person takes is a path that is contributing to a limitless amount of footprints that will be left on this earth.](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theodysseyonline.com/amp/we-all-have-destiny-2478480704) destiny may be bigger than we realise and defined by the mark we leave. we can change the course of an outcome we are not even involved with, big or small, so our purpose as individuals may remain unknown. this doesn't mean it isn't there. - [life doesn’t know what it will become until we step into it. Life is neutral until we decide to act.](https://thoughtcatalog.com/tony-fahkry/2020/01/everyone-is-called-to-their-destiny-but-not-everyone-answers/) we are all born blank slates (tabula rasa) and our experiences colour our world view. thus, we are not here to fulfill a purpose. rather we take what is neutral and make it mean something. to some people, destiny is a source of hope that what is theirs will find them and that should be respected even if their interpretation of it differs to our own.