Chapter 9
Different Destinies

We saw in the previous chapter that different people are on different paths through life. Just as different literal paths (such as trails and roads) lead to different destinations, so too, different paths through life lead to different destinies.

It is plain to see that people’s destinies are strongly impacted by the paths they are on. Athletes who choose a path of consistent training generally become better athletes. People with an inactive lifestyle generally become weaker. Students who study hard gain more knowledge and skills. People on a path of drinking lots of alcohol tend to become alcoholics. People who practice kindness toward others tend to become kinder people. People who choose to take illegal drugs often become drug addicts. People who do evil things generally become more proficient in doing evil. A path of doing right things leads to increasing righteousness. A path of doing wrong things leads to increasing unrighteousness.

Good athletes, skillful people, righteous people, unrighteous people, and all sorts of people don’t just happen. Their destinies are the result of traveling different paths through life. This leads us to another self-evident truth:

Different paths lead to different destinies.

The paths we follow largely determine our future destiny.

For Further Reflection:

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