What goes around comes around?

Off late, my mind has been grappling to comprehend and rationalize the concept of destiny. So to speak, destiny means the predetermined or inevitable course of events, or the ultimate power or agency that predetermines the course of events. Having read this, the ultimate dilemma thus poses itself, whether I believe in destiny or not. I have been asked this question on several occasions, and my response to this question, on all occasions has been a feverish denial. But as i travel the course of life, inching my way forward, I have been forced to revalue and rethink my stance on the subject. The very definition of the term implies that as an individual, no matter what choices one makes in their life, the final outcome has been predetermined. By this logic, one could conclude that the pillar of humanity, free will, is a mere illusion. I had a hard time accepting the redundancy of free will.

 But on the other hand, I couldn't just dismiss the entire concept of destiny because it seemed inconvenient or incomprehensible. The other possible justification to destiny, is that every decision we make, leads us to an alternate path, changing our destiny in effect to that decision. This rationale, would propagate that we as individuals, make one unchangeable decision at every juncture of life, and that decision takes us on a path where our destiny would depend on the next unchangeable decision that we make at the very next juncture of our life. This rationale, though slightly more comprehensible, pegs another absolute question. What then is karma? Is it just a sequence of decisions one makes which in turn determines the path one lands up on? And if this is true, what is the role of the dispenser of fruits of karma if our destiny is predetermined anyway? Or is destiny nothing but the fruit of karma dispensed by the supreme power?

As an average 25 year old, it would be infinitely simpler to just give up and stick to my feverish denial, wondering in secrecy what the answers really are. But then, the little that I read about destiny and karma, I realized, that in every religion, including Spiritism and theosophy, these notions have long been present. Every culture, every religion, every philosophy, believes in some variation of the same ideology, just phrased differently if at all. What goes around comes around, you reap what you sow, even the law of cause and effect for that matter! For the time being, it suffices to say, that I neither accept or reject these theories. However, If we all truly believed, that our every action, would come back to haunt us, in the most basic and thus unimaginable way, the world would be a far better place. And on that account alone, I accept, that even without merit or proof, the intertwined theories of destiny and karma, seem downright tempting.