Does Everything Happen for a Reason or Can You Find a Reason in Everything?

Breaking down some thoughts around the popular optimist saying “Everything happens for a reason.”

I was talking with my friend throughout the week about a very tough decision that I had to make concerning my career, my personal growth and just in general my life. I kept talking about butterflies, and “omens” and different signs, and how I feel like there is a reason for what I’m seeing but it’s not matching my gut.

“We always say things happen for a reason, but people never talk about how good we’re at finding a reason for everything,” he said.

I thought to myself, “Wow, very good point.” I am always looking for life to tell me where to go. Be it God, the universe, a butterfly, a Pixar movie, or even what time it is and what those numbers mean. There comes a point where it seems like you are almost being lead down a Snow White path of gold and all you have to do is “look for the signs”.

But what if there aren’t any? What if you literally are just supposed to just have a glass of water, and go to Target…and that’s it.

It had me thinking a lot about how I’m always trying to figure out what the right answer is, or what is the right thing to do, and this causes is a cycle of indecision, and indecision breeds anxiety. So needless to say I’ve just been a ball of nerves and mess… my whole life.

How do we change this? Should we change it? There’s a beauty and a comfort in feeling like we are connected to this earth so much we are being lead to a certain decision, and perhaps we are. But sometimes, it really takes listening to your gut, just existing/meditating, and being comfortable in not knowing how to end an article like this.