Amor Fati – Love One’s Fate?  When life serves up more than we can handle, our natural instinct is to say, “why me” or “why did those bad things happen to me”. But what if an old Latin phrase “amor fati”, which translated to English means “a love of one’s fate” sheds a new light on the plight of your fate? 

Amor fati teaches us to accept each and every moment, and make the best out of everything that happens. No matter the challenges presented, as something to be embraced and not abhorred. And also to be okay with it, but love it and be better for the challenge. So that it feeds you like oxygen does to a fire, and the obstacles and adversity become the fuel for your future potential and achievements.

“That one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backwards, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it….but love it.”  Marcus Aurelius 

Friedrich Nietzsche subscribed to amor fati to help him cope with some of the trying events in his life. It provided comfort when he abandoned his family for having anti-Semitic views, and also when he left Germany for the Swiss Alps.  It was also helpful when he had relationship difficulties, and in the end, never really found his soul mate. His “love for fate” helped him to deal with his trials and tribulations in life, and offered his heart and mind an acceptance of his fate. 

“My formula for human greatness is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not in the future, not in the past, not for all eternity. Not only to endure what is necessary, still less to conceal it – all idealism is falseness in the face of necessity-, but to love it…” Friedrich Nietzsche 

Personally, I’m not sure about fate in life. Do we make our own fate as we go through life? Or is it predestined, and we should just accept it? That is a question that has been asked for a millennia. But one thing is true… we are all individually presented with difficulties that we must deal with. For some it is health related, for others money or relationships. But in the end, it is about how we deal with our fate.

After much thought, the conclusion is, it’s not exactly about fate, more about…what did you learn from that experience? What was the take-away to move your soul to a higher level of understanding and evolution? After all, we all attend “the school of life” and each one of us has a mission and purpose to contribute to the world. Let your experiences pave the way to inner peace and happiness, instead of becoming a road blog.

“The Future Has Not Been Written. There Is No Fate But What We Make For Ourselves.”

Sarah Conner – Terminator 2