Give a valentine's gift from the heart
Anna Barbour
Get a Life
Fate is all fine and dandy. No one is discounting fate. Anyone who's ever read "Oedipus Rex" knows not to mess with fate; your eyes get gouged out; you are tormented. It's not a good idea to mess with fate my friend. But fate is a tricky business, you can't take it lightly, but on the other hand, you've got to leave room somewhere for free will.
You can never be certain who your soul mate is in advance, you know. You can't just sit back and expect soul mates to do everything for you. You have got to be actively involved in the formation of your own life, however it is fated to go. You've got to say things like, "You stay alive; I will find you," or do things that make your soul mate say "You had me at hello ..." or when asked, you've got to say your soul mate is "worth dying for."
Now, it's the Valentine's Day time of year, everybody's getting all mushy again from last Valentine's Day time, which is completely wonderful. It really is. But strange, at the same time, because how can you be mushy at the exact same time every year?
Anyhow, about fate, it's a dangerous thing and some people are sadly confused about what fate actually means. Fate means that if you do the thing you are fated to do, you have a hundred percent probability that that thing will play out the way it is fated. Fate does not mean that if you sit in your room all day, playing video games, your life is still fated to be highly exciting. When you're passive, then you're not active and when you are not active, you can't be said to be doing something, can you?
If you are fated to be president but you never run for the election, you have just used your free will to negate your destiny. If you never give blood or help your fellow citizens in some way, you can't really say you are pro-human beings.
Now, some people really are not pro-people and they show it by the amount of time and money they give to more furry, more leggy creatures. This is not to say that it is right or wrong to be pro-human, but if one is destined to be for people and not against them, he or she ought to do something for them. Something like giving blood.
At this time of month, for goodness sakes, it's perfect. Blood i.e. heart i.e. Valentine's Day. On top of such a close connection, February has been designated American heart month so along with giving your loved one a dozen red roses (a dozen roses always makes a nice V-day gift), why not donate a pint of the real red stuff?
Now, being that it's the Valentine's Day time of year, the personal aspect of fate must take center stage. One more time, I will go over this fate business. If it is Valentine's Day and you think you are fated to have a wonderful evening with the person of your dreams, but you never call that person, if you never do anything for that person, all I have to say is good luck because you will need it. On the other hand, if it is Valentine's Day and you think you are forever destined to be alone on this day o' love, but you go to a party anyway or finally send a card to that special "friend," your chances of being alone forever are not so good.
Some say there is no escaping destiny, but I think that sometimes it is easy to escape your destiny especially if you don't do anything about it.
Anna Barbour is a junior theology and pre-med major. Her column appears every other Monday.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, February 12, 2001
