Do People Live Their Own Decisions or What Is Imposed Upon Them?

Do People Live Their Own Decisions or What Is Imposed Upon Them?

Most of us live lives that are clearly not tied to our own choosing. Even though some of us appear to have the freedom to do whatever we wish, at the end of the day, we all feel as if a lasso has been tied to our feet, dragging us from one place to another. Furthermore, the vast majority of those who reflect upon themselves eventually lament how weak their own will truly is.

Have we ever truly wondered what it is that limits our will? Sometimes, even when we have the opportunity to achieve the things we dream of, we sacrifice them for the sake of other goals. Sometimes we believe we do this for a "higher purpose," and other times we give up because we think we no longer need what we once dreamed of.

While making these choices, everything seems perfectly fine in the moment. However, depending on the subsequent processes, we eventually realize that the purpose for which we sacrificed our dream was actually worth nothing. Initially, we might have spent long periods of reflection calculating the pros and cons of that dream; yet, when the opportunity finally arises, we fall into a momentary contradiction and essentially throw our entire past life into the trash. In such a case, it is meaningless to blame the "ant or the flea." We are the ones who made the decision.

When we consider our entire existence, our lives are often spent in regret. It is as if we exercise just to become more efficient at feeling remorse—on one hand, we despise regret, yet on the other, we seem to crave situations that trigger it. Life is truly easy for those who can break this vicious cycle and live in a more organized manner. Such people manage to be happy and stay happy, regardless of the circumstances.

In reality, happiness is truly that simple. As long as a person does not make life difficult for themselves, they can be happy in any condition. What I mean here is that it is foolish to bind happiness to a material quantity. Happiness is an inherent trait of our creation; it does not leave a person’s side unless they wish it to, right until the soul leaves the body. In other words, no extra effort is required for it.

What truly matters is how correctly we manage the period until the soul departs from the body. Because true happiness is being able to leave happy people behind after we die.

It is very wrong to leave the entire burden to fate and simply say, "Whatever is in my destiny will happen." Instead of creating a single, fixed timeline of destiny, Allah has determined which events will trigger which outcomes—He has organized what happens to one person based on what another does. From this, we can deduce that there is a "connectivity" between every phenomenon, albeit indirectly.

Consequently, the sprouting of every plant, the falling of every stone, the birth of every child, and so on, causes a change somewhere in the cosmos. From this perspective, we can say that the entire cosmos moves like the organs of a single body. In truth, the people of past ages who attributed meaning to every event and sanctified them did so because they sensed this connectivity. And indeed, every concept in nature is in close connection with one another.

Prepared by: Emre Pelit