Sometimes your inner Astral Self tries to warn you that something is wrong. Your Astral Being is something like the “Guardian of your Destiny”. We all come into the world equipped with two things: a destiny and a Destiny. There is a difference between the two, and it is important that you know the difference.
If it’s fate, you can’t fight it, it will follow you; some things were meant to be. As Paul Coelho said: “I can control my destiny, but not my destiny. Destiny means that there are opportunities to turn right or left, but destiny is a one-way street. I think we all have a choice to follow.” or not”. our fate, but our fate is sealed.”
If Destiny is after you, there’s nothing you can do to shake it. No amount of resistance is strong enough to hold back the tidal wave. It’s like being caught in a tidal wave of Universal. You can swim against it, struggling to break free of its magnetic pull, but the more you swim, the more it pulls you in. These emotional currents are the hand of Fate. I wish someone had explained the difference to me a long time ago. It would have saved me, and many others in my life, from the chaos and pain that comes when we swim against Fate. If I listen to my heart, it will always guide me in the right direction. You see, your heart knows your Destiny, it is encoded with it upon your arrival on planet earth. If you listen to his ancient wisdom, he knows which way to go.
A strong indication that I have been heading in the wrong direction is when I feel the need to rescue; when I can’t see how they could do without my help, and it’s all up to me. It is at that very moment that I need to let it go. They need to swim out of my karmic current in order to reach safer shores. When I get the urge to do what I always do (which is rescue), I need to remember do exactly the opposite. Why I keep “rescuing” has to do with my own karma, which is a complicated thing, because my karma, or what he gave me in life, is my destiny. It was my destiny to be born to a dysfunctional, abusive, and mentally ill father. It was my destiny to experience severe depression. It was my destiny to get divorced because it was my destiny to be a born lesbian. It was my destiny to give birth to a teenage girl who would take her own life due to the depression she inherited. And it was my destiny to write a book about that trip. The severity of fate can take our breath away. Destiny is the myriad of circumstances, both heavy and wonderful, that came my way in this life. They came to me instead of me finding them, which is what makes it seem so unfair. I didn’t ask for this… how many times have I said that? But in truth, I always had a choice of how to respond to these karmic axes. I could survive them and make the most of them, or I could get bitter and bitter, saying that life gave me a missing hand. The Guardian of Your Destiny, that cosmically wise heart within you that has seen you through the darkest hours, is still in command. And if you want to change your destiny, you still can.
Our most precious quality is our willingness to keep our hearts unreasonably open. When it would be easier to toughen up, walk away, or hurl an insult, it is the practice of compassion that can help us handle the impossible. Sometimes the most compassionate response is not to respond at all, because the truth always comes to the surface. Stay open, humble and available. That’s all you need to do. Allow Infinite Love to work in the hearts around you and get out of the way. Then you will see the wonderful hand of Providence extending its redemption and grace, and you could never do better than that. The key to avoiding disaster is always found in a compassionate response. But how do we find the strength to keep our hearts open while it hurts or begs us to hit back? We need to listen to the Guardian of Destiny within; she’s been trying to tell us something the whole time.
The Guardian of your Destiny is your inner astral. That means you have this compass inside that he knows where you need to go, who you will meet, who you will love, who will break your heart and who will hold it tenderly and carefully; and your heart transmits these subtle but persistent messages to you. But when fate arrives and shows up, we may wrongly assume that it is “meant to be.” We mistake fate for fate and welcome it with open arms. The irony is: what appears to us as Destiny (“destined to be”) may actually be Destiny, a circumstance that presents itself to test us, what weto have control over. The circumstances that are repeated in our lives (our life themes) try to show us with bright colors what we have learned and what we still have to learn. Fate will introduce tap dance into your life again and again, shaking up the theme of your life right under your nose. The theme of your life is what I call the lesson of the soul. Some of us have figured out what our soul lesson is, but even those of us who have figured it out still have a hard time making the right decisions. It is because destiny and Destiny can look so much alike that they deceive us and consequently make us look ridiculous.
Events that are truly outside of your conscious control are Fate, and soul mates that were “pre-arranged” to meet you are Fate. This is not the same as destiny, which you can change. Fate is like the iceberg that you are going to hit, regardless of where the ship is steering. The ship’s steering is gone; the ship’s rudder is turning and when you hit it, it’s safe: you’re definitely going to sink. Life is going from strength to strength and suddenly you are thrown into the ocean. You have just entered dangerous waters that are way above your head. The Guardian of Your Destiny is the captain in these situations, and she holds the map of your life in her capable and certain hands.
Joseph Campbell equates the Guardian of your Destiny with the archetype of the Crone; an omniscient and supernatural fairy godmother, and a protective figure:
“The son of destiny has to face a long period of darkness. This is a time of extreme danger, hindrance, or misfortune. He is thrown in to his own depths or out into the unknown; either way, what he touches is a darkness. unexplored. And this is a zone of unsuspected presences, benign and more malignant.”
Fate will surely leave us in the dark, just as it will bring us the light: “What touches is an uncharted darkness.” Periods of The Dark Night of the Soul (Saint John of the Cross), of confusion, and then collapsing castles, are often the hand of Fate. Destiny arrives with a wrecking ball; or she gently and mercifully erases our plans and agendas. Either way, what you planned is going to be crushed and offered to the wind.
It is then that your life has the opportunity to become a sweet sacrifice; you have the opportunity to become a person you could never have been without the help of Destiny. And after she’s gone, you’ll remember what you had planned and say in awe, “What was I thinking? What I got was so much better.” But as you go through the process of Dark Night of the Soul, it will seem like chaos, or at least a restructuring of what you thought it was “supposed” to be. Darkness is never comfortable; still, Destiny will persistently and doggedly guide you toward what you believe will end you. But as they say, it’s not over until she sings the fat one.
At the end of your journey, the fat woman will be there to welcome you back to the Other Side with open, if limp, arms. She will sing with such enthusiasm that you will be forced to smile or laugh out loud. she will be laughing with now (instead of you), because in the fight to survive you discovered that you could not only swim, but that you were stronger than any shark and you developed night vision. Yes, you floated in the murky, dark waters more times than you thought possible. Yes, it was terrifying… but the journey was also more breathtakingly beautiful, more fascinating, and far more dramatic than any script you could have imagined writing. The best part, which the fat lady sings about, is your happy ending. There is one written for each of us by the Guardian of Our Destiny. He still stands to light the way, and though many people will, she will never let you down. When you wonder if you are headed in the right direction, fear not: remember, you are the Daughter (or Son) of Destiny, and she will lead you safely to her Home.