Fifty / Fifty
Do you believe in fate? What about destiny, divine intervention, or miracles? All of these things are not so different. It is a belief that some part of your life is predetermined. In other words, not up to you. Your future has already been mapped out and there isn’t anything you can do about it. I like to believe in some of these things, but not 100%.
I believe that life is split equally, right down the middle. 50% of it is fate/luck/wishes/destiny the other half is 100% controlled by you. You account for exactly half of your destiny. The other half is up to chance, but that doesn’t mean you can’t influence what those dice are rolling for. You can control what time you leave, but you cannot control the traffic. You can control how you act, but you can’t control how others will react. You can choose where you want to go, but you have no power over what happens on the journey.
When you make choices that impact your life in a positive way, the odds of something terrible happening are greatly reduced. If you chose to smoke cigarettes every day, you have significantly reduced your odds for a healthy future. But if you make the choice to eat vegetables with every meal, your odds of rolling a six on that dice have been increased. This isn’t to say that the person who smokes won’t live till 90 or that the vegetarian will only make it to 65, but that is where the other 50% comes into play. You can increase your odds of yielding a positive return, but it’s not a guarantee.
I like this method of fifty / fifty because it allows me to roll with the punches. “Oh… there is a car accident on the highway, that is out of my control. I can’t be mad about something I have no power over.” It releases you from unnecessary stresses of life. When something falls in the uncontrollable half, you have to leave it at that. Let it be. This allows you to focus all your energy on the things you can control. And when you are choosing the best course of action for yourself, the world has a way of rewarding you for it.