Recent Conversations with Fate

Me: "And so, Fate, as I was saying just a moment ago, I've decided to go ahead with my decision."

Fate: "Well, if you're sure about it, then I suppose there's nothing I can do to change your mind..."

Me: "What? You want to change my mind all of a sudden? I thought we were both good to go on this."

Fate: "Don't let me stop you, my friend. What's done is done."

Me: "It's not too late. I haven't done anything yet. I've merely decided."

Fate: "Okay then. That in itself is a victory of sorts."

Me: "Are you mocking me again?"

Fate: "Not in the least..."

Me: "Well - I thought we were working together on this project. Basically, I'm simply trying to unravel your most recent bit of cryptic advice."

Fate: "Am I so hard to understand? And besides, do you really need to consult with me to see clearly what options remain available."

Me: "Of course I need your help. I have a tendency to overlook certain possibilities."

Fate: "Additional options...More to choose from...More to get confused by perhaps."

Me: "But your job would simply be to point me toward the right option..."

Fate: "And wouldn't I be cheating you out of a certain type of experience if I did just that?"

Me: "Oh I see. You want me to feel the excruciating weight of confusion, panic, uncertainty..."

Fate: "No. I simply don't want you to feel forced into something that doesn't feel right to you."

Me: "Well I've got news for you Mr. F. I'm getting sick and tired of your non-directive therapy. Just tell me what to do. Just give me some answers."

Fate: "Sorry that's above me pay-grade. The person you really want to speak with about that is named..."

Me: "Stop right there. Look now. I'll talk to whomever want to talk to me. But right now we're having a conversation and once again, it seems, we've hit a brick wall...which leads me to suspect that you really do want me to fail. You'd like nothing more. It's entertainment for you and your ilk. I'm like some bug, some plaything that you taunt for your own amusement - which, if you ask me, is really twisted."

Fate (smiling): "I've afraid you're getting the wrong idea. This little conversation of ours may be strange or a trifle unusual, but that doesn't make it bad. Despite these little circumlocutions we seem to keep falling into, I actually think we're making progress."

Me: "Do you get what I've been trying to say for the past 10 minutes? I don't want a pile of needless options. I'm looking for the one option that I MUST embrace. And up until just 10 seconds ago I thought that I had found it."

Fate: "Until I..."

Me: "Until you..."

Fate: "What?"

Me: "You're causing problems. It would be easier to just treat everything you've said as mere random verbiage."

Fate: "Fine. Go ahead and insult me."

Me: "You see... I really don't have to do this. It's just that it represents something entirely new for me, a major switch, a new path, a new enterprise."

Fate: "Fine. Then it's decided."

Me: "Or else...I could just go back to my old life...my old dreary life...where I refuse to venture out into the unknown forest with my pack of bread crumbs and a compass on my cell phone..."

Fate: "You know what. Your persistence has paid off. I'm going to give you a final answer."

Me: "About as clear as the Oracle at Delphi I bet..."

Fate: "You should not go back to your old life."

Me: "Really? So you agree that I'm doing the right thing...[pause]...or do you mean that I should repudiate every aspect of my former persona and begin again from scratch as if it were the year zero? Is that what you mean."

Fate: "Just what I said before. Do not go back to where you were before."

Me: "But that would be impossible. You can't step into the same river twice..."

Fate: "Exactly my point. Embrace the new. It may look the same, but it's not..."