Is Your Fate Your Own?

[Tequila Zaire]

A couple of weeks back an old associate I worked with (and partially for) ended up with a mild case of death. It wasn't anything natural or accidental mind you but any with good sense know not to go poking around for who did what and how. He's not the kind to be mourned and even less to be missed but I'll admit I was very surprised. Granted I was still under 21 when I was dealing him but I honestly thought only the hand of God could cut him down.

I really felt my mortality for like a week after hearing the news.

The other night I got a few calls from some having to deal with the fallout of this death. Not as suspects mind you but as men caught in the middle like in the age when a king fell and his princes and generals fought for control. All of a sudden everyone has ambitions and their fate becomes yours.

The most unsettling was a casual warning to keep my distance. I'm no longer a kid or naive to what what went on so that didn't really have to be said. I have zero interest in what happens with them and theirs. How it was said though and given who said it I knew what was meant. It's been a bit hard to sleep since that little talk (a bit why I've been so curt recently in my posts. I'm not excusing it but it is a cause.) I've been reassured not to think too much about it but it's a bit heavy on the mind none the less.

Any of you ever been in a situation where others hold your fate above you just out of reach? Or where they can have an impact on you so hard it'll cancel out anything you choose to do?

[malcolm]

yeh. when I was working at the adult video store and had a loaded ak-47 sticking in my face by some little wigger punk in hunting gear who was barely even old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes.

and all for a hundred bucks and a traceable laptop computer that shouldnt have even been on property in the first place.

and to top the cherry of it all...the little fucker came back a couple of days later bragging bout how he "lived by the gun" in his little blue flannel hip hop shirt with the top button buttoned and baggy pants and noone would believe me when i brought it to the manager and showed him a comparisson of footage.

[Morning Glory]

every person is responsible for thier own destiny. sure you'd be a fool to think that you can control circumstances, but it's not the same thing. the choices you make are you own. I've never seen a rock grow legs and jump into someones pipe and light itself. if you choose to do illegal and dangerous shit then you only have yourself to blame for the consequences. other people are responsbile for thier actions just as sure... but most people seldom simply have the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I know this is probibly not the answer you are looking for, but it seems to me that you've had the good sense to stay away from these kind of people. your freind did not. keep it up.

[One Eyed Cat]

Some time ago, I found myself spending time with a certain female. She had issues which made further consorting impossible. One was a childhood love who was known to be psychotic. Specifically, he became mad with jealousy when seeing her (or any girl he "loved") with another man. Luckily, she finally had the sense to leave him. A few years ago, he shot and killed the mother of his child and a man I had known in high school. In short, your friends' destiny need not be your own. Stay away from the situation. Don't question it, just stay away.

OEC

[Buster Friendly]

I fucking hate that shit.

I basically let all those types of people in my life to not come looking for me. It would be bad for THEM.

I'm not interested in those type of hijinx anymore.

that shit always sucks.

good luck staying clear of it.

[TheDeathKnight]

Yep.

There are people who are not psycho.

Hang out with cool people.

It still won't help if a tree falls on you, but the more you can do to avoid
bad situations, the more likely you will live to see another day...

[Pull~My~Hair]

I dont think that your fate is your own, I know I am probably gonna get flamed for this but, I think that no matter how hard you try to make the right or wrong desicions, whatever happens is gonna happen, I mean you could go and donate a million bucks to a charity and get hit by a drunk on your way home, or you could apply for a job and the person doing the interview doesnt like the shirt your wearing so they dont hire you. I seriously believe that no matter what you do whatever is going to happen is going to happen, I dont consider it destiny, its just that there are so many people in the world that their lives are bound to intertwine, whether it be good or bad.

[Buster Friendly]

it's all about managing probability.

anybody who's 'still in the life', I've cut off.

I don't want to hear it.

that's why they don't see me around anymore.

and everybody I know who made it over the age of 35 did the same.

[cheshire centauri]

it all depends on who you think you answer to...
the fate of sheep is determined by their shepard...

[DARKGYM]

I believe that we make our own fate by our choices, but to every choice there is a consequence.