Tether and Trust

By Nada Alnuzha

There is a widely acknowledged belief that planning towards your goals corresponds with planning towards success, and the renowned proverb ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’ has been commonly overheard as a persuasive motive that emphasises the importance of carrying a ‘plan’. Nothing is more fulfilling than achieving goals that you’ve set yourself and strove laboriously towards. Yet, with that being said, fate and destiny are also powerful forces dictating your life. There comes a degree of power in planning and controlling certain aspects of your life, yet these plans may bow out gracefully when destiny comes into action. When a plan does not progress expectedly, this does not echo failure. One may think it a setback, and inflate the circumstances enough to end up blaming themselves for not having set out a more systematic plan that may have not ended in its disintegration. This disposition reminds me of a friend who intended on applying for a specific job. After completing all the job prerequisites, she ‘constructed’ her first career-based plan. The plan was where all her energy was being exerted, and what occupied her mind the majority of the time. Long story short, she did not end up with the position, and its safe to say there was a lot of disappointment to overcome on her part, and a lot more consolation to offer on mine. My friend is now employed in a different firm and she couldn't be more content with her job. The purpose of this story is to point out that plans don't always follow their expected route, and that stray plans do not necessarily indicate failure.

There are conflicting views on whether if the life we live has already been set in stone and if our fate has already been immutably written, or the belief that life is a matter of planning and achieving. What if you find yourself stuck in the middle of these two polar ends, unable to make a move in your life? Is life really something that is predetermined, or do we truly reap what we sow? There is a beautiful saying by the prophet Muhammad (SAAW) that combines and captures the essence of both views on whether the life we live is already decided, or whether it follows a path that we pave for ourselves. There was once a man who was caught between such two views. It reached a point where he contemplated between whether he must tether his horse after mounting off, or if he must keep it loose and trust what has been written as its fate. Prophet Muhammad happened to be walking past the man, the man asked for his opinion on the matter, and whether he should tether and trust, or release and trust, to which prophet Muhammad replied to ‘tether and trust’.

If this piece of advice were to be applied to life decisions, it would denote that walking aimlessly through life, not setting plans to follow and not holding yourself accountable for things that are happening to you is similar to releasing a horse in a desert, and being struck by disappointment and helplessness after it wanders off missing. The horse symbolises the route that you pursue in your life, while the desert symbolises the universe. Much like tethering a horse, your path should be planned by you, designed to fulfil your goals and reach your potential, and placed ahead of you as your purpose. Eventually, fate will also catch on, and whatever your destiny is, it will meet you along the way. Now, a defeatist individual, one who readily accepts failures, might view their fate as a plan hinderer if it doesn't correspond with their expectations, and even worse, may give up entirely on immediately reconsidering their plan, and coming up with a plan B or a plan C (the number is not limited by the alphabet!). A changed plan may be a railroad switch, something that inevitably happens to change the course of your path towards your actual fate. When a plan does not work, it remains part of your fate, and all you are required to do is to modify the plan depending on the circumstances. Think of your fate as only bringing you to consider a plan that you haven’t deliberated before. Instead of idly and frivolously waiting for pleasant things to happen to you, let your efforts be recognised, and let the repercussions of your plans resonate, for their power will get you to where you want to be.

Much like how the universe is governed by different powers, both mysterious and discernible, your life is similarly governed by a law of attraction ascertaining that for every effect, there is a cause. This can be advantageous in the pursuit of reaching your goals. Through this law of attraction, one can manifest their goals through causes that will ripple powerfully and reach a desired effect. The causes are the paths we undertake, and the decisions that carry us to a desired outcome. If this law was to be applied to answer the question of whether our lives are governed by fate or whether they follow a specific path crafted by us, it would reinforce the notion that everything happens for a reason, therefore, as much as fate is thought to be unequivocally predetermined, your life remains circumstantial through causes that influence effects. Thus, your future is manifested through your actions and the chain of effects that you create are constantly transforming and reshaping your destiny. This notion was beautifully described in the 13th century by the scholar, Rumi, who stated, “what you seek is seeking you”. Thus, both fates and goals will ultimately prevail, and what you manifest in this world will find its way to you.