As I watched Covert Affairs on Tuesday night, I found myself dazzled with the quote you see below. The exact quote is “Only a fool confuses fate with destiny. Fate is what happens to us….destiny is what we make in spite of our fate”. I was about to call my son, who is one of the writers on that show to ask for the exact quote, but before I could do that, it appeared magically on my Facebook page, I guess I was not the only person who loved the thought.

What is really the difference between fate and destiny?

Destiny: 1: something to which a person or thing is destined : fortune<wants to control his own destiny> 2:  a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power or agency.

Okay, now that we have gotten Merriam & Webster to weigh in, let’s look at these words for ourselves. More importantly how these words have affected our lives to this point and how can we change what we perceive as our fate or destiny moving forward. It would seem to be fate, or destiny, that this topic is Blog#50, and I am at this moment, at a crossroads. Do I take my ideas for changing the lives of my peers,and act on them by forming some live seminar groups or not? My biggest stumbling block is actually the computer, even though I have come a long way, in a short time, I still don’t feel secure with my skills, and never will. No matter how much I learn, the very next day, I am once again light years behind in getting this machine to do my bidding.

My options are as follows, give this whole idea up and play with my grand-daughter or at least put the plan on hold until she turns five and can take over my IT department, OR march over to the local college and get an intern. What takes a computer savvy person three minutes takes me three hours, if I can figure it out at all.

So now we come to fate or destiny. Is it my Fate to be able to generate ideas for new businesses, but not the ability to execute them, or is it my Destiny to push through an uncomfortable and frustrating period in my life and as Tim Gunn would say “make it work”.

This is exactly what my SilverFoxy Project would be. a group of people coming  together to see if they can leave their comfort zone and in the case of most seniors that is, a long-standing zone. Can we all start a new chapter in our lives, adding new people, new places and new challenges everyday. Do I take Sheryl Crow’s  advice and “show up for myself” or do I quit when the going gets tough and I don’t have someone to hold my hand.

When I began this blog last winter, I believe I stated that my reason for even trying to write is that I am certain, any feelings I might have about aging, are somewhat universal because I do not feel I am in any way different from millions of women around the world and everyone craves that feeling of validation for their feelings. That was my first plan for this blog, I have learned so much, mostly that I don’t know much about the real nuts and bolts of what I want to do. Do I let that lack of technical knowledge discourage me and try to find a new way to get to my destination. Or, do I, do for myself what I wanted to use my training to do for others. I just realized that the word destination obviously comes from the same root as the word Destiny, so I guess my decision was made for me.

I must get off the train marked comfort, walk across the platform and board the one marked unknown. Wish me luck.