Day 249: Free Will

I had a conversation with someone the other day about free will.

They shared this idea of quantum entanglement. This was new for me, I had no idea what it was. The basis of it is that there is no will, there is an opposite happening at any given moment which, in turn, mandates what any outcome will always be.

This is a hard concept for me to grasp on a number of levels.

The biggest being, that I fully believe that humans have free will.

If we don't, however, that would be a pretty big mind shift to swallow.

I wanted to figure out how my view of things could still work if this were actually the case, that there is no free will.

Some argue, 'why does it matter what you do? Whatever is going to happen will happen regardless of one's actions.'

I still don't believe that.

I suppose what I hold on to most is the idea that we are still in control of our own happiness.

Perhaps we have no control or impact on the outcome of our lives or certain events that will transpire. But we do, absolutely, have the power to go through experiences in a way that feels good and energizing to us.

No matter what the circumstances.

This idea, I'm sure to some, may sound about as harebrained as the idea that there is no such thing as free will.

Isn't it strange how we can hold on and accept one type of extreme idea but not others?

Regardless, this is what I've worked out in my own mind.

Free will or not,

Destiny or choose your own adventure,

we all have the ability to create our own happiness.

In every moment and every situation.

We have the ability to choose our perspective. We have the ability to choose how we interact with the world.

Maybe this doesn't change the course of events we experience throughout our lives.

But it does impact how we experience ourselves throughout our lives.

And to me, that might be the most important thing.