I believe in destiny. Yes I do. But I don't believe that no matter what you do you can't change your destiny. Nome. Actually I think its the other way around. You can and should try to alter your destiny. In fact you do - with every choice you make.
Life is all about making choices. Not necessarily the right choices. But more like the best choices that you can make given your resources. I think there are more than one single path which any one person's life can follow. And with every decision you take, you are walking down a different path. This one is definitely taking you closer to your destiny, but not necessarily the same destiny that you would have if you had taken the other option you decided not to pursue.
I don't believe in books and movies that show no matter what the protagonist does, he can't avoid the fate that awaits him. Maybe, in the end what happens is a culmination of your actions, thoughts and beliefs. Maybe its plain bad luck. Who knows.
What I'm trying to get at is that someone not lifting a finger to improve his position, will eventually land up with a sorry conclusion. But someone fighting the circumstances will someday rise above his problems. So, it's all about what you decide to do with the resources you have, limited as they are in most typical cases.
While you make choices in life, you are charting a course for your future, and even though in this course circumstances play a hand, ultimately the result will be in proportion to the effort put in. They call it a rule of science. But isn't science essentially about life itself.