Can we shape our destiny.....?

A girl who later became Dr. Tererai Trent, born in Zimbabwe was not allowed to attend school due to poverty and also being a female. But her brother (a dull student) was sent to school (considered to be the bread-winner of the family). Tererai studied her brother's books and did his home work. The teacher noticing the quality of home work (compared to his work in class) was highly impressed. Coming to know of the truth, the teacher begged Tererai's father to admit her to school. In between her schooling, she was married off to an abusive husband and had 3 children by the time time she was 18 years of age. 'Jo Luck' from Heifer Int'l came and interviewed most of the girls in the village. Tererai said in her interview that her dream was to do a bachelor's degree, a Masters and then a Ph,D. She said that her dreams written on a scrap of paper was kept in a can and buried. Later she went to Oklahoma with her husband and 5 children. She did complete her bachelor's degree in agricultural education. Her husband was deported for 'abuse' and she remarried Trent (a plant pathologist). Eventually she did her Masters and then Doctorate. She was given a 2 year contract to work in Heifer International (which paid for her Ph.D program). Oprah Winfrey (the legendary TV show host) interviewed her in her program and declared that Dr, Tererai Trent was her all-time favorite guest. She donated $ 1.5 million to Tererai which was used in building and running schools in her native village. She published a children's book titled 'The Girl who buried her Dreams in a Can' and a self-help book titled 'The Awakened Woman'. She wrote her own destiny.

Srikanth Bolla, born in a small town in Andhra Pradesh (India) was visually impaired. He was not allowed to do science stream as he could not see. He fought a court case for 6 months and was allowed to pursue science stream in his 10+2 high school studies. He was denied admission in coaching centers which would pave way to enter Indian Institute of Technology, because of his disability. He did not lose hope and joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he did his 'Brain and Cognitive Science and Business' course. He holds the record of being the first ever visually challenged person to do so. Though he was offered corporate jobs in America, he wanted to do something substantial for the physically handicapped people. He started a 'braille' printing unit in India. Then he started Areca based industry giving employment to mainly differently-abled people. The turnover soon became $ 4 million. Ratan Tata has invested in his enterprise. His name appeared in Forbes magazine (first 30 under 30) in Asia. He visualized his destiny.

In a small village in North India, a barber died at an early age. The family of the barber (his wife and 2 young daughters) were left with no money to survive. The girls, fearing the taboo that would get attached, disguised themselves as boys and started working as barbers. After a certain age, they could not hide the fact (obviously). Now they have decided to run the barber shop as unisex salon (as the village has become a bit more modern now). They have won the hearts of the villagers. The girls have taken the destiny in their hands and shaped it, rather than succumbing to the inevitable fate.

In all the above examples, the circumstances that were thrust upon them could not be changed by them. That was destiny. But they chose to take steps to adapt to them and work differently to change the possible future circumstances by their diligence and hard work. 

For example, two persons with the same qualification and background, get employed by a company in the same cadre. The circumstances are the same for both of them. One keeps doing his job (the way it was taught to him), remains in the same position, whereas the other guy, using his intelligence and smartness goes up the hierarchy. Can we not say the the second person shaped his destiny? This is how we shape our destiny. There are many  more examples to cite from all over the world. The point is that all of them did not accept what was thrust upon them, but made huge differences to their lives due to their tenacity, vision and hard work. Their lives are lessons for all of us, who cringe and reel off lame reasons for not achieving the coveted goals. Let us cheer up....!