I used to believe that astrology meant our destiny was prewritten in the sky.

I thought that astrology meant that the moment we stepped foot into this world was the moment that our life’s story would be set in stone. It had seemed as though astrology was the creation of these divine, mystical authors writing the story for us, dictating each action we took and each word we spoke.

However, that story—our story—was one that the skies above were only willing to share as vague warnings and predictions; they were reluctant to share the whole tale with even the most secretive of people. Instead, we were teased with only bits and pieces of information of how things may turn out.

To be completely honest, I have never been one that has been that into astronomy. At most, I knew only the very basics of it all—if I could even qualify it as that much; I understood that, to some varying degrees, those that believed in astronomy thought that the alignment of the planets and the stars all influenced how someone’s month may be going or if they were more likely to have a particular personality trait.

I was sure that it meant our lives were weaved together by the hands of fate.

I used to believe that astrology meant that our destiny was prewritten in the sky.

It is a lot easier, at least, to believe that it is. To believe that some celestial force, whether or not it truly is the stars and planets, was in control of our fate is to relinquish the thought that things could have been another way; it is to relinquish the worry that problems will endlessly pile on top of one another.

To believe in the predetermination of our lives is to believe in happy endings—in the end, everything will be okay. And to me, that is a comforting thought.

Even so, at the same time, there is still the flip side of that coin: the possibility that everything we’ve done is in our own control, done of our own free will.

Having free will comes with the knowledge that every success you’ve ever accomplished and every interest you have—everything that has made you who you are today—was done by you. They are not mindless events that would have happened either way but rather events that happened because you got yourself there. For some, that may be a jarring thought, but once again, it brings some sort of solace to the fact that all my work was worth it.

I can’t say whether or not the way in which I live my life is a predetermined thing or simply a reflection of the actions I have chosen to take; it would be a lie to say I could. But even if it turns out that it was all simply a matter of the stars and planets aligning in just the right places at just the right time, it all still would have been worth it because, at the end of the day, I’m just looking at life one step at a time.