When Your Will is Stronger Than Your Destiny, You Rewrite Your Karmic Contract
“Every moment I shape my destiny with a chisel. I am a carpenter of my own soul.”
My life hasn’t been a walk in the park. I’ve been through many difficulties and spent years feeling lost and confused. Being a believer in reincarnation, I wondered often if I was being punished for something I’d done in a previous life.
Right now, all of that seems like a distant memory, because I no longer feel troubled or confused about what my life will look like and how I should cope with it. I am now actively responding and enjoying everything life gives me, and have a great sense of where it’s headed. But getting here was a long arduous journey.
This is an article I’ve been waiting to write for a long time, but didn’t exactly know how to put it into words. But just as I contemplated how to write this the other night, I was browsing through Netflix and found a movie called The Adjustment Bureau starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. I had seen the title before but never watched it. The look and description sounded like a Bourne Identity-esque action flick. I was in that kind of mood so I decided to watch it. Turns out the movie was nothing like I thought it was. Without giving too much away, it is about 2 people who are willing to risk everything to defy destiny and carve out a brand new path for themselves — perfectly aligned with what I felt called to write. I suppose I was destined to write this…
Do I believe in destiny? Yes. Do I believe in free will? Yes.
Well which is it, you might ask. How can both of these exist at the same time?
I believe we each have a predetermined destiny; I also believe we are powerful enough to redirect that destiny if we are unhappy with where it’s headed.
We can stay on a path that’s laid out for us, or we can forge a new path for ourselves. Of course I believe in several other possibilities. Some of us could fulfill our karmic contract a little sooner and have the opportunity to define a new contract and destiny. Those opportunities to turn our lives around could also be predetermined in our path to destiny. Nevertheless, nothing is guaranteed in this human existence. Because our individual free will is very powerful, which makes our collective free will even more powerful (for better or worse).
So what is a karmic contract?
It is an agreement that our soul has made prior to reincarnating into this human life. According to Buddhism and Hinduism beliefs, we are here to fulfill certain karmic debts and transcend important life lessons so our souls can evolve and ascend.
I remember reading a chapter in Ji Gong, an ancient Chinese historical fiction (though many believe it was based on a real person). The chapter describes a young man who led a very destructive lifestyle and was abusive toward his elderly parents. He was destined to die alone and penniless. One day, on his drunken path, he encountered a sage disguised as a beggar showing him where he was headed and cautioning him to turn his life around, to live with integrity and treat his parents with kindness. The young man was brought to tears and made a commitment to change his ways. In that moment, he began to alter his destiny and was headed for wealth, longevity and a loving family.
Whether this is a true story is less important. The importance is that it illustrates we each have a hand in directing our own destiny. The strength of our will creates a matching vibration that determines the chances of altering our path. It may not be an easy path, but it is one we can create for ourselves.
If we don’t like where we’re headed, we are all in a position to do something about it.
Believe in a better destiny
If you’ve been unhappy with your life for a long time and you’re pondering if this is your karma, your destiny, the answer is: it doesn’t have to be.
In the movie The Adjustment Bureau, the lead character was made aware of his destiny, a plan drafted by a higher source, yet he believed it didn’t have to be that way. He believed it so much that he was willing to throw everything away in his life to pursue a different path.
The very first step to changing your destiny is to believe there is a better one for you.
If you believe your life is as good as it gets and there’s nothing you can do about it, then chances are, things will continue the way they are. If you don’t believe you are a good person and deserve a better life, then any real opportunities for change will likely be invisible to you, despite how good of a person you are. If your mind is filled with doubtful thoughts that counter your desire for a better life, then chances are you are not empowered enough to pursue a different destiny than the one that’s been handed to you.
You will only commit to a new and better destiny if you allow yourself to feel it to be true in every cell.
Work through your karmic relationships
The idea of us being here with karmic debt to pay can feel disheartening. It sounds like we will be punished no matter what.
But much like the idea of destiny, paying our karmic debts doesn't have to be a horrible experience. We can each face our karmic challenges with a higher consciousness and creativity. We are not savages after all (most of us anyway). For example, if you hurt someone deeply in a past life, theoretically, that person will come for you to get even in some way. But instead of continuing the cycle of hurtful encounters, you can both be mature enough to clear any hostility and release each other on good terms and resolve your karmic debt.
There are karmic debts and there are also karmic rewards. Your good deeds from past lives will follow you into this life, too. There might be someone or many who want to support you unconditionally and love you no matter what. Be open to those relationships, but be careful not to take advantage, or a good karma might turn sour.
New habits create new karma
Breaking a karmic contract involves breaking the old karmic patterns that keep that contract alive.
Most human beings will continue their old ways until they don’t work anymore. The sooner you recognize your old ways no longer work, the sooner you will begin to realize that changes are needed. Our soul’s natural tendency is to evolve into a higher state. Establishing new and improved ways of being will create a new vibration for your life and break old karmic patterns. This takes work, but we humans are built for this, just like all life forms are built to evolve.
This requires practicing new mindful habits every day over a long period of time — creating lasting changes on a cellular level. You will then create a new pattern of behaviors, resulting in a new pattern of responses in your field of attraction, therefore a brand new karma for this life. Simply put, you will no longer attract, or be attracted to what existed in your old karmic pattern.
Don’t give up on the destiny you desire
We will surely run into many obstacles on our path to rewrite our karmic contract. After all, that contract existed longer than you have in this lifetime. It takes a tremendous amount of willpower to commit to a different destiny than you are originally here to fulfill. But if you are willing and your faith is strong, you are sure to take your destiny in a different direction.
As cynical as our earthly world can be, help is always available and comes in many different forms. Sometimes someone from our soul family shows up just as we need them the most and gives us exactly what we need, then disappears from our lives. We might do the very same for someone else. The universe has a way of bringing souls together so they can help each other evolve.
If you ever feel alone and the whole world is against you, don’t give up. Just know that as long as you are open to receiving, help will be provided for you, sometimes in the most unexpected and surprising ways. If you ever feel disappointed or defeated about reaching your goals or getting what you want, take a step back and allow all the good karma you’ve accumulated to work for you. Believe that no matter how much your old karmic contract might be working against you, you also have many good souls contracted to support your happiness and fulfillment in this life.
