and splendour.

At this stage it is necessary to point out that there is a difference
between "big fate" and the circumstances of life. "Big fate" as it
sometimes is called antedates this present life and its cause does
not come within the scope of this little book. [3] Sufficient if we
say here that, through the ages, we reap as we sow, therefore our
future depends upon how we meet life and its difficulties _now_. Big
fate, then, cannot be successfully fought, simply because it is the
working of Omnipotent Law, but our life generally and its
circumstances depend upon how we meet "big fate," and how we recover
from it. No matter how seemingly unkind "fate" may be, it is possible
for us to make our life a beautiful thing. Inspired and energized
by the Power within, we can rise from the ashes of our dead hopes
to build anew our life in greater beauty and more in harmony with
the Divine Ideal.

[3] In addition to the "fate" or "future" which every thought and
action builds, there is, behind all evolution, a gigantic plan.
This wonderful plan that embraces all, from the stupendous
conception of a limitless universe down to the smallest
electron, is being worked out through the ages with absolute
precision. Nothing can prevent this plan from being brought
into manifestation. It gathers up our past and weaves it into
our present life, just in the same way that it is busily
gathering up our present life and weaving it into future fate.
It works it all into the big plan, somehow, and with infinite
skill. The plan is bound to be followed (this, too, is fate)
but HOW we follow it, either with willingness and happiness,
or opposition or woe, rests with us (this is free will).