The Soda Guy
Earlier this year I was driving in Burlington county and decided to pull in to the parking lot of a Wawa convenience store in order to get something to eat and drink. After making my purchase, I got into my vehicle which was parked by the front door of the store. As many customers of this particular store do, I sat in my car eating my sandwich, casually observing those entering and exiting the store.
One man in particular caught my attention. He was a young man who appeared to be in his twenties. He was portly but not excessively obese. The man wore a brimmed “captains’ hat” with an anchor insignia in the front. He rode up to the front of the store riding an older type bicycle. It was the type without any gears to shift. It looked somewhat like the bike that Pee Wee Herman rode in the movie Pee Wee’s Great Adventure.
He got off his bike, leaned it against the the front wall of the store and entered the store. When he exited the store, he was carrying three bottles of soda. One was a one liter bottle. The other two bottles were twenty ouncers. His bike had no basket so I wondered how he was going to carry the bottles and ride his bike. Walking over to his bike, he placed the three bottles on the flat top of the store’s metal waste and recycling container. Next, he opened the bottle of the one liter soda and proceeded to drink the entire contents. Then he proceeded to gulp down the contents of the other two bottles.
A Bottle of Spring Water
After finishing the third bottle of soda, he walked back into the store. Within a few minutes, he came back out carrying a half liter bottle of spring water. He stuck it in his pants pocket, got on his bicycle, and rode out of the lot onto Route 38. I continued to observe him until he rode out of sight, giving him the nickname of “The Soda Guy”.
For the remainder of the day, my thoughts lingered over my observation of Soda Guy. I conjured up a scenario in my mind based on my observations. The young man was born with some challenges with regard to his mental processes. He probably lived with his parents who monitored and controlled his soda intake for health reasons. He told his parents/caregiver that he was going to the Wawa store to buy some spring water. While there, he had the opportunity to guzzle soda. He had to drink it at the store because he could not bring it home.
What Is His Destiny In Life?
There is a special place in my heart for those who go through their lifetime here on earth dealing with certain congenital challenges. Nature dealt them a raw hand at birth. Nevertheless, like the rest of the eight billion humans on this planet, they were born into this world with something specific to achieve – a destiny. Perhaps the destiny of Soda Guy is to be a teacher. A teacher of the importance of expressing the divine quality of compassion and kindness and sacrificial love on behalf of a soul who cannot survive on his own.
The Electric Tricycle Guy
Not long after my observation of Soda Guy, I observed Electric Tricycle Guy. It was raining lightly in the morning as I set out for my place of employment. As I got into my car and started it up, in my rear view mirror, I saw a man riding in the middle of the street in a three wheeled adult-sized electric bike. It had a big basket on the back. As he rode past me in the direction that I was headed, I drove slowly at a distance behind him. The street we were on came to a “T intersection”. The man stopped at the stop sign and patiently waited until it was safe to go, oblivious to the rain. His rain jacket had a hood but he was not using it. He then crossed over to the opposite side of the intersecting street. Going up a driveway, he continued riding, now on the sidewalk.
As I made my turn in my car, and drove past him. I got a good look at the man. In some way that I am unable to explain, I intuitively knew that Electric Tricycle Guy was another soul similar to Soda Guy. Perhaps it was the sudden wave of compassion running through me that I felt. I only saw his face for a couple seconds but there was something that told me that Electric Tricycle Guy also had to deal with mental challenges that the average person does not have to deal with.
What Is Destiny?
There are those that define your destiny as that which is preordained to occur in your life. The Oxford Language Dictionary actually has two different definitions for the meaning of the word destiny. The first is “the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future”. The second is “the hidden power to control what will happen in the future”. Looking at those two definitions, the second one appears to be the more accurate of the two.
We all come into this world with a purpose. You, me, our loved ones, Soda Guy, Electric Tricycle Guy, everyone. It may be different purposes at different phases of our lifetime. There are specifics that we came here to accomplish. These specifics are your destiny. You can endeavor to understand and fulfill your destiny. Or you can make the choice to ignore your true destiny and go off your true life path. You make the choice. It’s up to you.
You Have A Unique Destiny
Your destiny encompasses the full use of your skills and abilities to be, to learn, to teach, to grow, to create, to experience, to accomplish that which was planned before you entered the world. You perceive your true destiny through asking Divine Intelligence emanating from the Kingdom of God within you. Ask with a humble heart. It will assuredly be revealed to you. It will be something that you are able to do with what you have to work with, wherever you happen to be.
Every single person in the world has a unique destiny. That includes humans born with all types of congenital challenges. Every life is different with regard to that life’s destiny.
United States – Manifest Destiny
Sometimes, entire countries manifest their destiny. After the United States won its independence from Great Britain, it slowly moved west across the continent. After purchasing the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803, the idea of “Manifest Destiny” started taking root in the American psyche. The concept of Manifest Destiny was that it was the destiny of the United States to stretch all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. And by 1850, that is precisely what occurred. Once the idea of Manifest Destiny was thought of as a reality waiting to happen, that idea took on an energy of its own. Americans would not rest, could not rest, until this destiny was fulfilled.
You Are The One To Manifest Your Destiny……YOU
You may confuse destiny with fate. You may say, “Well, it seems like it’s my fate to _________________.” Fate essentially refers to the notion that your life follows a fixed, inevitable course. On the other hand, destiny refers to the notion that you came into this world, this dimension, to fulfill specific experiences and achievements. You, and only you, make the choice of your path in life. You can choose to pursue your destiny or you can choose not to pursue your destiny.
Make no mistake about it. You are the one to manifest your destiny, whatever it may be. You choose to make use of your skills and abilities to accomplish your destiny. Or you can use your skills and abilities pursuing that which lies outside of your true destiny.
From personal experience, I can tell you this. There is no diversion or activity on your part that you could possibly spend your life on that even comes close to bringing you the fulfillment and inner joy that you feel manifesting your life’s destiny. Dear reader, do you understand? Your true destiny is the only reason that you are here.
Be Still And Listen
So how do you discern what your true destiny is? Be still and listen. Listen closely to what Emmet Fox called the Presence of God. Just shut the eff up. Go within to the Kingdom of God. Ask for guidance, then just listen. If you are sincere about really desiring to understand what your true destiny is, you will most assuredly be guided to it. It will be as if there is a universal magnet inexorably drawing you to your unique destiny. A destiny that is meant for you and you alone. You will then feel and believe that your life is worthwhile because you are doing what it is you were always meant to do. When you discern your true destiny, you will know. At that juncture in your life, you will feel as if you are asleep each day unless you are taking some small step (however small it may be) in the direction of fulfilling your destiny.
Ditch The Fake You
At Halloween and at masquerade parties, masks can be fun to wear as you portray this, that or the other as part of the playful respite from the workaday routine. One of the saddest and most tragic happenstances of human society is never taking the masks off as you live your life. You may choose to wear different masks all throughout your lifetime here. Wear this mask for this person or group. Wear that mask for that person or group. Why? To be liked. To be loved. To get ahead. To get money. To manipulate others. To feel secure. To assuage your fears. There are literally dozens of reasons why masks are worn. And it is so very unnecessary. Go within to the Kingdom of God within you, to the true you.
To manifest your life as you desire it to be, take off the damn masks. Center yourself. Practice focusing on the Presence of God. Continuing to wear the masks will only result in you being held back from your true destiny. Eliminate the masks. Once you ditch the fake you, something beautiful will begin to happen. You will begin to experience the beauty and joy of true freedom. Once you begin to live in the freedom of the Kingdom of God, you will never go back. You will look back, shake your head, and think “Why did I waste any part of my precious life wearing masks?”
Your Very Last Day Of Life
When your very last day of life comes, as it must for all of us, you will ask yourself two questions. As you lay in your hospital bed or perhaps in hospice care or wherever that event takes place, you will ask yourself – What was your true destiny? Did you achieve your destiny?
It does not take a great deal of imagination to picture your inner disappointment if your answers to those two questions are poor. My wish for you (and myself) is to avoid suffering that inner disappointment, both as you lay dying as well as later during your life review in the next realm. On that very last day it will then be too late to do anything more. Too late to fulfill why you were born and why you lived. The time to work on those two questions is right now.
Use What You Have, Wherever You Are
To manifest your reality is part and parcel of fulfilling your destiny as a child of God. Use what you have, wherever you happen to be. Believe. Believe as the penniless widow did in the biblical book of Second Kings. God’s prophet Elisha told the widow, who was buried deeply in debt, to borrow as many vessels (large jars) as she possibly could. She was told to put the vessels around her and shut the door of her house. (Big symbolism there). As instructed, she then took the small amount of olive oil that she had in the house and began pouring it into the first vessel. She kept pouring and pouring until every one of the multitude of vessels were filled to the brim with olive oil. She then sold the oil, paid all her debts and had enough funds left over from the sale of the oil to live on.
A Rather Big Manifestation
Recently I was working on a rather big manifestation. It was something that I was persevering with for a considerable amount of time. It had a number of moving parts to it. While being close to its realization, I asked Divine Intelligence for guidance to “get over the hump” so to speak. The Holy Spirit instructed me to proceed along a certain avenue. It was a path that I definitely would not have taken if left to my own devices, because of my own personal preference. There was nothing intrinsically wrong with that particular avenue. I just wanted the manifestation to come about in a different way. With manifestations however, you must have an open mind and an unclenched heart. Understand that you may receive your desire via a totally unexpected route. I finally relented (I am a stubborn SOB at times) and followed the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God. The result: the manifestation was fully realized with a few synchronicities thrown in for good measure.
Conceive. Believe. Receive.