American English is a rich language. It changes and evolves, and
words and usages come and go. Some clarify, improve, enhance, and enrich.
But some are just plain stupid, and ought to be replaced by more
meaningful language. Or, left unsaid altogether.
“We control our own destiny,” for example.
You hear people spout this inane phrase all the time. It gets
thrown around as if it actually means something, rather than positing the
impossible.
Destiny, by its very nature, is something that cannot be controlled.
It’s usually defined as something like, “the predetermined, usually inevitable
or irresistible, course of events,” or “events that will necessarily happen.” Note
the words “predetermined,” “inevitable,” “irresistible,” and “necessarily.” In
other words, uncontrollable.
So, no matter how much you might like to think so, or how hard you
try, you cannot control your own destiny.
(Assuming, that is, that “destiny” even exists. But that’s another
story.)
