Destiny and Belief

"Belief is the unshakable conviction that each of us has a greater purpose and that this purpose is attainable."                                    –The Visionmaker

Belief is a conviction that every Visionmaker requires for the lifelong expedition to meaning. In Visionmaking, belief means the heart and the intellect stand behind an unshakable conviction that each of us has a singular destiny, a purpose and a journey for which we have come into the world. Destiny, which comes from the Old French word destinee, refers to the culmination of a journey, a destination.

Destiny demands our active and deep engagement in the creation of meaning.  Most people view destiny as a straight jacket of predetermination, something we are confined and defined by.  They mistake destiny for fate. Fate is "something unavoidable that befalls a person; the decreed cause of events."  A Visionmaker dismisses fate as a self-fulfilling prophecy that is created by our unwillingness to take responsibility for making choices or by choosing poorly. In the Visionmaker's philosophy, we get what we earn and not what we're assigned.

It is our singular mission to pursue our personal destiny with every resource at our command and all of our fire.  Even when we are unsure of what steps to take, we must work hard to see what is most meaningful to our growth and development, to relationships, to work and creativity, to the larger community.  We are obliged to engage with meaning, rather than wait for it to arrive having done all the work to find us. That is laziness, not Visionmaking.

Where we have clarity, we must take action.  Where clarity resists our vision, we wait, reflect, and examine our hearts until a path forward is revealed to us.  We must remain unwavering in our belief that the way forward, even if it is just a step, will appear.  

To believe means that a Visionmaker has the personal confidence and conviction that he or she is capable of creating a path of heart and meaning despite difficulties or challenges – that our gifts, talents, character, creativity and resourcefulness are sufficient to manifest a singular destiny. Andre Gide, the Nobel Laureate, writes: "The belief that becomes truth for me...is that which allows me the best use of my strength, the best means of putting my virtues into action."

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.