Another late night...

Do people meet because it is written? Or are we just atoms colliding randomly in this existence we call a life? Well what does it mean that something is written? Does it mean that the decision we ultimately go for is the one we were meant to take regardless of all the anguish, indecision and heartache? I think that's a load of rubbish. Some people meander along in their lives, unsure of what they want, and then life makes decisions for them. Others make too many wrong decisions, not because they've thought it through, but because they can.

The more I wracked my head over it, the more I became convinced that the issue of predestination or free will is not a problem Allah has created, it is a problem that Man has created. Do you take the job or not, do you marry this woman or that, do you obey or rebel, do you do this or do you do that? Such silliness clouds our minds to the point that even after the decision has been made for us, we wonder what might have happened. We wonder about what will happen. In doing that we miss the now, the beauty of each moment and the opportunity to be the best person we can be at that time, for those that rely on us. I think that is the secret to the Prophet's saying, "What befalls you was never to miss you, and what missed you was never to befall you".

The first part is telling you to concentrate on what you are facing rather than lament over how it could have been averted, the second part is telling you not to fret over what never happened. The pull that affects you in each direction is nothing more than a foolish heart's desire, wanting what it cannot have. To want what you cannot have is to want what cannot be to be, to want what cannot be is to seek something in vain. To seek in vain is to be unhappy.

Then if we know what we can avoid in order to be unhappy, what are we looking for that can make us happy? At this moment in time, what will make me happy are some macaroons from this shop I've never even been to. A shop somewhere in Paris.