Is it... Destiny?

I'm baaaaaaack!  It's time to dig deep with another challenge.  Is it Destiny? 

source

Please create a scrapbook page, art journal page, mixed media piece OR... just write some responses down to the challenge below.   Share your heart with us in our community, or below in our comments... or link us up to your blog featuring your creation. 

Ready?  Set?  Go!

Destiny: Do you think your future destined or planned before you were born? How much control do you believe you have over your future? Are you fated to achieve certain things, or face certain difficulties? What, if anything, do you do to maintain a positive attitude about your future? Has something come your way that felt like it was destined all along…meant to be?
Please create a layout about something that you thought was meant to be. Were you right?
Let us know by using MEANT TO BE in your title with punctuation that tells the story. 

Hmmm... this is a good one.

I once had a psychology professor in college who started his class with a "debate" on free will versus predetermination, or destiny.  This man was quite irritating, by the way... someone whom, to this day, I would be happy if I never crossed paths with.  He was very emphatic in his debate and very strongly argued "for" predetermination.  "You have no choice in life, everything is predetermined."  He would get so forceful in his argument that he made several people heat up and get angry and I witnessed at least one girl crying after he cut her down.  And then, he'd end the lecture with, "but I do believe in free will."

I struggled with the course.  It was a tough one, and he was a hard person to learn from.  Sad for me, I ended up not getting the minimum grade needed in order to count toward my major course of study.  So, I had to retake the class.  HE was the only professor who taught this subject, so I found myself, once again, sitting in his classroom on day 1, listening to him expound on free will versus predetermination.  Beyond irritated at this point, I was ready for this "new" course.   This time I came prepared and I argued against him until we were at an impasse.  He was clearly not "pleased" as he truly enjoyed pounding his argument for predetermination into the ground.  Perhaps he was "studying" our reaction, psychologically speaking.  After all, he was a psychology professor.  Me?  This second time through his course, I spent a lot of time arguing against him, when he would wander off the course topic.  I remember being extremely satisfied once when I made him speechless with some of my retorts.

To this day I often question if he passed me because he didn't want me to return to his classroom again, or if I really did learn the subject.  Regardless, he taught me a lot about free will, and destiny.   And even if I struggled with the subject he taught, that man taught me more about debate, psychology of personal interactions and choice.  Maybe nearly failing his class the first go-round had a purpose.  It was my destiny to re-take the course and really learn from this man who, in general, just irritated the crap out of me.  Was it meant to be?

Looking forward to seeing/hearing your take!