Destiny is a human subjective-construct that is frequently discouraging for many people, because destiny is “always in the future”, implying that we are striving for a better future… always on a quest to obtain our destiny in life… but never privilege enough to achieve it. Destiny often is “regarded” as a kind of mysterious unobtainable and constantly illusive “ utopianplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigModeled on or aiming for a state in which everything is perfect, idealistic and harmonious. dream”, which can only become a reality, once we “leave” the constraints of this earthly plane. Well, - at least - we enthusiastically hope so, because there ain't any actual “undisputed facts”,“authentic evidence” or “real hard proof” that validate this assumption and point of view.

Throughout human history the construct destiny surfaced in many forms and plenty of permutations, mainly to instill hope for something better in the future and to make life a bit more bearable for all of us… based on a vague notion and false promise that maybe “someday all this will go away and things will actually get to be much better”. The concept of destiny is - for centuries - often manipulated to collectively derail individuals, keep them of balance and serve as some promised undeliverable ideal. The basic reasoning behind this is that all our present toiling, sufferings and frustrations is going to be worth it… eventually… …one day… because, we will receive our “promised” reward, Providing that we serve the “ideal” faithfully and well. The inherent manipulative power of the “concept destiny”, appears in all spheres of our lives… from education to politics to economics, marketing and is also present in concepts such as patriotism, “good” business man, admirable citizen, nationalism and the likes.

Unfortunately, the current general and collective accepted implication of destiny - sadly - did gradually degenerate to something materialistic that “can be obtained”… now and with “immediate” effect and gratification. When we use the term destiny in a traveling context; yes sure, we all agree… it can definitely be reached and it can serve as a sure and obtainable goal. But when we apply the concept destiny in a human life's context, it remains an unobtainable, illusive and mysterious goal… never to be reached and only to be hoped for or something to dream about.

It is true that the concept destiny is a “place” in future, but it should NEVER be regarded as static, nor unobtainable. Geography and the physical time and space realm is mostly static (i.e. very slow changing), BUT the human-mind and umwelt isn't! Our umwelt is constantly changing, and because of that, our destiny is also changing and growing accordingly. Destiny is obtainable and is an actual “place” that we all can “reach” - sometimes with great difficulty and many lessons - but we all can reach our destiny (i.e. our personal growth and development)… providing that we acknowledge the fact that human DESTINY is a continuous exploration, learning and mastering process, which steadily works towards an achievement within the parameters of a our unique beingness, eventual optimal self-actualization and self-determination.

A difficult concept? Not really… perhaps the following “traveling example”, will place the concept of destiny in a more understandable context…

Let's assume - for a moment - an individual, staying in Pretoria (Gauteng, South Africa), where s/he is reasonably happy and makes a decent living; but deep down - in his/her psyche or inner being - s/he “knows” that there is much more to life that can be experienced and achieved, than merely staying in Pretoria (i.e. budding aspirations). S/he now has one of two choices…

1. remains stationary in Pretoria - wondering and dreaming about something better - but reasonably happy within his/her present comfort zone, as maintained by “ignoring” and “suppressing” his/her budding aspirations, OR
2. to take a leap of faith and “venture-out” from Pretoria and explore the many possible options and alternatives available in the rest of South Africa.

For argument sake, let's assume that s/he choose the latter (No 2) and “go for destiny”. This choice implies that certain preparatory steps need to be taken, before s/he should take any action. Such preparatory steps will differ greatly from person to person and situation to situation, but essentially s/he should - at the very least - pay attention to the following…

• Determine his/her present place in life… “Where am I now and what do I currently have?”
• Specify his/her aspiration in life… “Where do I want to be in future and what should my “future world” look like?”
• Ascertain the gap between the present (now) and the future… “What resources do I have, and which resources do I lack?”
• Identify possibilities, alternatives and opportunities… “What do I want/need, and where/how can I obtain it?”

Let argue, that the individual decide that s/he desire an environment with lots of water and a beautiful scenery. Based on environmental “research” (traveling books, magazines and pictures) s/he chooses to start moving in a southerly direction, because it seems that it would allow him/her the best opportunities to “reach” his/her envisioned “destiny” (i.e. the vivid image of water, mountain & beautiful scenery). The justification for his/her journey's “final direction” being…

• not in an easterly direction, there is only lots of mountains,
• not to the west, it is a desert area and
• not north, merely beautiful scenery, rivers and lakes.

In his/her mind's eye s/he has a vivid image of a big impressive mountain overlooking the sea; and south seems the best direction to pursue the “picture”.

So the quest begins with the Vaal river as his/her “first destiny”. On arriving in Parys, s/he start exploring the “environment” and compare it with the vivid mountain/sea image. After a while s/he realize that some of the criteria (vivid picture) is present, but a few things is still missing. Some more “research” follows, and s/he realize that southerly direction is still the best option, so the journey continues, because s/he “adjust/adapt/tweak/upgrade” his/her “Vaal river destiny” to a “Gariepdam destiny” as a result of refined information, personal growth and experiences.

Arriving at the Gariepdam and staying there for a while, s/he still find some aspects missing from his/her “dream” and when learning of more possibilities and alternatives (which was impossible if s/he remained stationary in Pretoria), s/he realize that the journey still has to continue, to yet “another destiny” further south… Cape Town.

Destiny (within a beingness context) is not a predicted goal, nor a predetermined destination… it is a “journey” or “quest” direction, which allows us to gradually grow and develop, as we systematically travel the “path” to obtain our “vivid mental image” (i.e. our potential) and transform it into something real and tangible. As we constantly learn, grow and develop as an unique human being, our destiny is also constantly spiraling upwards… always in the same direction and always a little further and a little higher.

Thus, destiny isn't something mysterious, in the stars, “hidden” or only accessible to a few privileged people or obtainable by the “chosen ones”; BUT something available to all of us and something that we can deliberately work towards… and obtain! Providing that we at least have some direction in life guided by our…

• Vision Statement (i.e. WHERE do we want to be in future… our direction in life, both in a personal & professional capacity),
• Mission Statement (i.e. WHAT are we going to do… what strategies, actions and steps taken would get us from WHERE are now, to WHERE we desire to be),
• Value Statement (i.e. HOW are we going to do it… the WHAT in terms of our priorities, values and what is important to us in life) and
• Legacy Statement (i.e. the accumulation of our WHERE, WHAT & HOW as our reputation and how we prefer others to “see” us).