Irony of fate or...I have always been amazed by this story with the paintings. They hang there for years, and then, for no reason, for no reason, I repeat, bang, and they fly to the floor. They hang on a nail, no one touches them, but suddenly, at some point, there’s a bang, and they fall like stones. In complete silence, complete stillness, not a single fly flies by, but they bang. For no reason. Why at this moment? Unknown. Alessandro Baricco. 1900. “The Legend of the Pianist” Since ancient times, the word “fate” has been used in many senses, by each person in his own way. The Latin Fortuna is different from Fatum. Fortune, according to pagan belief, is an irresistible force that controls the course of all events in the world. Fatum is the will of the Gods. The Russian “fate” comes from the word “court” - that which is awarded, lent (given as a loan, as a debt, for the fulfillment of what is due, prescribed), destined from above, by the will of God. In Russian usage, “fortuna” is closer to the concept of “luck,” and the word “fatal” is more often understood as inevitable. In my opinion, in modern society, people use both of these words to explain personal failures. It is easy to prove: the number of people buying lottery tickets, spinning slot machines, playing on financial exchanges, and doing risky business is not decreasing from year to year, but is growing. Personally, even the most notorious atheist-materialist allows for luck. “Not fate”, “Bad luck”, “bad luck”, “lucky”, “pitchfork” - many synonyms are used now in our country. Everyone is given life opportunities from birth, and how to manage them is determined by the person himself. From birth, everyone is given free will (freedom of choice), that is, freedom to act based on their desires. It turns out that we can do what we want in our lives, but only based on the opportunities given to us. For example: “Marina had two professional paths to choose from. The first way, in which desires will always coincide with possibilities, is to be a singer; the second way - if there is a discrepancy between opportunities and desires, that is, through overcoming obstacles - to be a lawyer. She chooses which path to take on her own. By choosing the first path, she could easily become a world-famous singer, but this seemed uninteresting to her, not very worthy and honorable. Marina decided to follow in the footsteps of her parents, easily entered law school, graduated from it, got a job, and all the time she was pursuing her desire, she was overcome by illness, periodic conflicts with people, dissatisfaction with herself and her achievements. I couldn’t work for a long time, there was high competition and my health began to fail. Having received what she wanted, Marina was so tired of all the obstacles she had overcome that she lost the desire itself. After which she had a question: where is her place in her professional life now? The result of the second path: a huge amount of effort, borrowed from health and life time, was spent on achieving the desired, but the desired was obtained, albeit not for long. In response to everything that was happening, she answered: “Apparently, it’s not “destiny” for me to be a successful lawyer.” “Obviously, for Marina, a professional path based on the realization of opportunities, not desires, would be productive. Thinking about fate, many people come to the conclusion that it cannot be avoided. Everything they do seems predetermined to them. However, here it is appropriate to recall the well-known expression that people invented fate so that they would have someone to blame for their own stupidity, sluggishness, and their own mistakes. So what is fate - an inexorable and blind goddess, or is it flexible, like a river, capable of bypassing the mountain it meets on the way, but somehow flowing into the sea? {One person, having heard about the wisdom of the wanderer Bo, found out that he was in the city, and visited him in a modest guest house on the edge of the city. The wanderer Bo was looking for something in his knapsack and gestured to him to talk, without interrupting his occupation: - O venerable wanderer Bo! I've heard a lot about your wisdom. I am tormented by the question of fate. I.