Do Things Really Happen For A Reason?
Have you ever heard someone say “Things happen for a reason”? Well the reality is that things happen and it can be for a reason or no reason, depending on your way of thinking. Events that “happen for a reason” are usually the result of complacency. What I mean by this is that complacency and routine usually come hand in hand. When an event that breaks that routine comes along, it makes us feel uncomfortable, anxious, and sometimes even a bit depressed. The event can be something such as a blown out tire, a loss of a job, a family member’s death, or a breakup/divorce…etc. Whatever the event may be, it causes a disruption in your everyday life and breaks your mind out of autopilot. These events, though may seem at first unwanted and extremely distasteful, they are actually helpful.
Change Your Mindset, Change Your World
“The funny thing about life, you can’t get out of it alive, so you might as well have a good time” — Les Brown
Its similar to what Les Brown said, why let certain events put you down or dictate your life? We are here for only a short time, and the less time we take recovering from negative events, the more time we can spend living it to the fullest. Some people get dumped by the person they love and think they are never going to recover. Some people lose an arm or a leg and think life will never be the same. Some people lose a loved one and feel as if they are never going to recover….but they do. These people are the same ones still laughing at jokes, enjoying a movie with a friend, and even experiencing tears of joy at their best friend’s wedding. There is a tomorrow, and possibly even a better one if we let it happen. Change your mindset from “this is the end” to “let’s move forward and learn from this”. Use the negative or positive event to add to your bank of experiences and find a way to use it to improve your life.
Just Freaking Build Something
As humans we are born to think, imagine, and create. If we are not doing one or all of these things we are dying. Things that happen for a reason don’t need to just happen, use it to create something meaningful for the world. Based on a survey of patients who were close to death, the number one regret was “not pursing dreams and aspirations”. We all have a life we wished we were living, and I ask you this, “why not?”. Why can’t you have a million dollars or live in a nice house? Why can’t you travel the world while still doing work that you love? The answer to these questions is that society told us we can’t. Society says rich people are greedy or that they just got lucky. Who creates these rules? And who says we have to follow them?
In the 19th century, pink and white were considered masculine while girls would often wear white and blue. Society dictated that certain colors were masculine or feminine and we decided to accept that. The same concept applies here, society dictated that we have to work a job for the rest of our lives and retire at 65. So it is your choice to either accept that, or build a life that you love. Build something that you can hold, build something that can be read, build something that people can take pictures of, build a family, build a house, build anything, but most importantly, build something that you will be proud of on your last days on earth.
It Happened For A Reason
So my answer is yes, things do happen for a reason. They happen for a reason because we give it a reason. They happen because we noticed that they happened. These events have meaning because we give them meaning. So the next time an unfortunate or unexpected event occurs and you find yourself sitting there thinking, “why me?”, remember, you are the one who decides what it means. You are the one who decides what happens next. You have the choice to move backward, stay where you are, or proceed forward. You have the choice to let the event and society dictate your life and how you should live or to decide for yourself what your own reality really is. Remember, you always have a choice.
