The trouble with fate

I've never been the religious type. I don't really know anybody who is. But I do have a very handy knack for explaining away the (good and bad) things that occur in my life. "It was meant to be." Or alternatively, it wasn't meant to be. This is commonly known as fate and closely entertwined with destiny. Fate dictates that you have a designated life path and despite what you may do to veer off it, everything that is supposed to happen, will. Eventually.

I pulled this little story off Wiki which sums it up nicely:

"Death speaks: There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, 'Master, just now when I was in the market place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw that it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me.' The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, 'Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?' 'That was not a threatening gesture,' I said, 'It was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.' "

So there we go. We use this convienent theory to explain away life's mistakes, life's lessons, life's more unsual paths, it's failings. Personally, I've used this phrase alot over the past few weeks. When homes I find are given to somebody else, I tell myself it's because there's a better one out there for me. When I don't hear back from countless job applications I tell myself it's to increase my motivation. When I don't get the job, it's because it wasn't meant to be.

But now I'm starting to wonder. How many times can we use this excuse? If it really wasn't meant to be then why didn't something stop me for applying for the job? If there really is a specific path that I am supposed to be taking then why does there seem to be endless detours? In practical terms, perhaps I should just kick back and take it easy. Stop applying for jobs, stop looking for homes. The right one will find me surely, if it's meant to be.

Wouldn't that be an interesting experiment.