THE ULTIMATE QUESTION

Most people believe that their destiny is pre-ordained, and that it is constant and unchangeable. Others find the idea, of stars moving in the heavens having an effect on anyone’s fate on earth, ridiculous. However long the age-old argument continues, it is an accepted fact that many people have proven both sides right at some point.
In the world of sports, where even the difference of a millisecond in your timing could make or break your entire career, this statement would find many examples. The sisters Venus and Serena Williams, arguably the best American tennis players on the women’s circuit, prove the fact that some people have success in their destiny. Not only did they start their professional careers in their early teens, but their father Richard Williams, himself a former tennis player, was their coach, and remains so till date. Due to some private disaster, his dream of being the greatest in his sport never really took off, but he made sure that his daughters would not make the same mistake. He believed in the saying that “its okay to do what you want to do, till its time for you to do what you were meant to do.” He trained them to the best of his ability, and saw to it that their natural sibling rivalry would not come in the way of their respective careers. Not only have they made history, but they have been pitted against each other numerous times as sisters and competitors. The most exciting tennis finals, are always the ones where an established and long talked of rivalry is to be decided. Venus has defeated Serena twice to lift the cup; Serena has won it back twice. It was in their destiny to be in the tennis world, the place they were meant to be in, with a father having all the expertise to take them to the top.
Some might still disagree. It is true, that no matter what life throws at you, it’s your decisions and choices that count, not what is decided for you without your consent. Michael Phelps, the American swimmer, who has won a place in Olympic history for being the only one to win eight gold medals in a single Olympics, did this Herculean task because of his burning desire to achieve something. Although his parents were divorced when he was just nine years old, and he had to be looked after by his mother and sisters, it did not deter him from following his dream. He was teased in school for his odd body shape, but he had the last laugh when all the experts in swimming attributed part of his success to the streamlined aerodynamics of his “weakest” point in school. He was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), but he put that aside and did what he could to reach his goal. His parents had no background in swimming whatsoever, so it was all Michael’s decisions, his effort and sense of direction that brought him this far. If he had been bogged down by his failures at school and accepted his disorder as his ‘destiny’, where would he be now?
All this only goes to show, how much can be achieved by hard work and perseverance, and how much by believing in fate. In life, luck and hard work go hand in hand; no one’s life can be a success without one or the other. That answers the questions that arise from the statement, “some succeed because they are destined to, most succeed because they are determined to”, for no matter how much evidence you put forward either way, life was, is, and always will be known as a heady mixture of luck and labour, in proportions that can never be decided.
Feriel Presswalla
Std. 9A