Free Will or Predetermined Fate

Free will is the idea that someone can pick out their path and destiny, choose the thing they want and build meaning from that. I do not believe in the concept of free will yet I do believe in agency and the choice or decision to create a meaningful life for oneself. I think the true destination for people cannot be altered, yet there are many different roads all leading to the same sense of meaning in differing ways, and each one will shape the individual slightly differently and some remain stuck choosing to suffer their neurosis as opposed to suffer in a meaningful transformative way. The amount of information gathered will determine which path is taken but the subjective source of meaning of each individual does not change over the lifespan, yet the true target of the individual is unknown even to the individual himself and slowly becomes clearer as he proceeds down the path towards self actualisation. We have the choice whether to head down this path and honour our instinctual nature or to reject it and pick something more comfortable and socially acceptable, which is why I attribute agency to the individual, but the destination of the path itself remains unknown to the individual, what drives each individual down the path is subjective, some may be driven by truth seeking, some by exploration, some by healing others, some by wisdom as well as other archetypal paths which lead people towards their ultimate destination. Each archetypal path will shape the individual in fundamentally different ways but ones chosen path doesn’t matter as much as the courageous road to pick a path and not be quite certain where it will lead, but committing to it nevertheless and honouring growth and development over safety and comfort. This is the choice we humans have, whether we decide to take on our life mission not knowing fully where it might lead us or to sit on the couch watching TV while having a stronger sense of predictability of the future, yet knowing it won’t lead to favourable outcomes

This decision we have whether to honour growth and development and uncertainty vs comfort and safety is the agency we get, we get to decide which one we want and what level of intensity we proceed down the path. By picking the path of growth and development we must embrace uncertainty and confront fear which is almost impossible without tapping into some sort of courage or pool of inner strength, and the correct path will often present itself. Why do some people seem to have endless courage and others just seem to have no ambition nor motivation and are stuck on the couch all day? I think the people who are stuck in the depressive loops seeking predictability do not understand the immense inner strength they possess and that will instantly surface if they decide to commit to the path of growth despite the pitfalls and hardships. By picking the path of growth the mind instantly begins to reorder itself in a productive way with the main focus of the mind being on the path and being in the present, leaving little time for rumination nor need for comfort. The mind is as only good as its target and we have the agency to pick what we fill our minds with and whether we commit to the path of growth or just unconsciously seek death in the form of comfort