Do we have a choice?

This topic has been spinning around in my head the last couple of days and I want to get my thoughts out about it.

My grandpa always has this saying :
“you go when it’s your time”
Meaning you die when you are supposed to and not any time before.

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I have been wondering if it is true that every one has a certain amount of time from the day they are born, like a digital bank account with a given number of hours, days and years, and no matter what they do, they will only die when their time is up. This would explain the “miracles” and extremely lucky coincidences where people escape death and should not be alive.

Another view is the opposite one, that nothing is predetermined and every choice we make affects our future directly.
Have you ever seen the movie “Next” with Nicholas Cage?
He plays a character that has the special ability to see 2 minutes into the future, however, everytime he does this, the future changes, and this goes on every single minute of every hour of every day. The movie is really good and I recommend you see it or order it from amazon!

Just like in the movie, maybe every time we make a choice, to go to the grocery store, or the beach, or take a vacation, our future changes. At a t-junction, a left-turn will hold a different future to a right-turn. This would mean that every choice has an impact on our remaining life span or time bank account. Maybe staying at home today will result in you living until you are 102 whereas if you choose to go to work you may get caught in an armed robbery and tragically get hit by a bullet and not make it to see the next day. If that is the case, then making choices are quite a pressure, because each choice potentially has a huge effect on your life. Variance, gotta love it right?

But then again…and I’m going to be confusing, maybe all our choices have been made, and all we can do is try to understand them. I think that was a line from The Matrix, but it’s very valid.
Haha, I talk a lot about lines and plots from movies, it intrigues me and I like applying it to reality.
Think about it, every decision you are going to make in your life is already going to happen, but it’s just not possible to know everything in advance, and up to time to reveal the circumstances in which we are going to make the decision.

You are going to have breakfast and lunch and supper, you are going to get sleep, maybe get groceries, get run over by a bus or win the lottery. Whatever happens, it’s going to happen to you, and time is the catalyst for the events to unfold.

Personally I have chosen the second option of believe everything is going to happen anyway, so I’m comfortable with what happens. It makes acceptance of life a lot easier, especially when bad things or unpleasant things happen. I think acceptance is important.
Actually, there was this poem I read a few years ago that I’d like to share, although I can’t remember it all.

It went something like:

Dear Lord,
Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, and the courage to change the things I cannot accept.

Then it went into some funny things about watching out about the toes I step on today, because they may be connected to the ass I have to kiss tomorrow.

Hehe, well, the most important thin is the first line. Acceptance, whatever life brings you, accept it, what is done is done and cannot be changed.
HOWEVER, whatever has happened can inspire you to go out and do something about it to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Maybe you got mugged, and it will inspire you to go out and get a black belt in a martial art, which will one day put you in a situation where you can prevent someone else from being killed in a fight. Everything is so interlinked and interconnected, and a lot of things may never make sense until after a long long time all the pieces of the puzzle came together.

With me personally, If I had never picked up the book “The Game” one holiday when I was in Europe, I would have never met some of my best friends today and my life would have been totally different!

Just my thoughts. Please leave your opinion as a comment:)