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I used to believe in God. When I used to believe in God, I also believed that everything happens for a reason. It made sense, I guess, to believe that someone had planned out my whole life, and since he loved me, he was going to make sure it all turned out in my favor in the end.
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I used to believe in God. When I used to believe in God, I also believed that everything happens for a reason. It made sense, I guess, to believe that someone had planned out my whole life, and since he loved me, he was going to make sure it all turned out in my favor in the end.
However, I /used/ to believe in God. I don't anymore. And when I decided that I never really believed was when I realized that I had power.
Once I realized I didn't have to just carry on through the bad stuff in order to get to the good stuff waiting at the end, I understood that my actions were what was in control of my life, not some grand design. So instead of waiting for the bad to pass, I just acknowledge that this was likely a coincidence, but I can still learn from it for the future.
Believing that I had control instead has made me much happier than I ever was when I DID believe that everything happened for a reason.
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I like to think yes. But maybe it's just wishful thinking to make us feel better when life lets us down. It sure makes me feel better when I think something happened for a reason.
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I really do adopt the mentality that everything happens for a reason. I have no scientific evidence or tangible explanation for it, but I have faith in the crazy universe we live in. Personally, in my life, things have always shown me that they happen for a reason - the good, the bad, the embarrassing, the sad, etc. I think it's a mentality that you adopt once you've realized it in your own life. Everything has a cause and effect.
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I believe that all things happen for a reason. Some reasons are to help an individual see things in a different perspective or bring a better understanding of something that was once close minded to that person. Everything comes together to help us evolve.
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Everything? I don't believe so. But I've lived a good long life and over the years there have been sequences of events that were life altering, or sweet, maybe amusing, stuff too uncanny for me to just blow off as coincidence. Just today, as a beloved family member nears the end of life, the pieces fit, synchronicity perhaps, but it sure doesn't ring of coincidence.
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Everything? I don't believe so. But I've lived a good long life and over the years there have been sequences of events that were life altering, or sweet, maybe amusing, stuff too uncanny for me to just blow off as coincidence. Just today, as a beloved family member nears the end of life, the pieces fit, synchronicity perhaps, but it sure doesn't ring of coincidence.
Maybe, like most people, I take comfort in connecting the dots. There's no harm in that. There's also no way of knowing for sure, one way or the other. I'll take the comfort any day:)
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I don't know, really. But most of the time I think it's just something people believe so that they can have some comfort. I think that's okay, because life is hard sometimes.
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I think life is a continuum. We're born with the ability to constantly learning from our actions/mistakes and that of those around us. If one is constantly learning then they can most likely find "reason" in almost everything they do. But if one is not learning from their actions and their environment, then no, I doubt one can find "reason" in the occurrences of life....Whether or not things happen for a reason or are purely coincidental occurrences depends on one's outlook/perspective on life....I wouldn't say "everything" happens for a reason...but most things do. (In my opinion)
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Depends on your definition of "reason". If reason simply means a cause, then of course. That is rather facile, however. If you are asking if there is a plan that has already figured out all future events, then I say no. You are better off asking yourself what you can do in order to have better results in the future.
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I don't think it's literally true, but it can be one of the more useful 'beliefs'. It can allow our minds to move past negative things and find the positive in them. It's not necessarily the best way though, as being aware of the method seems to enable it's usage more frequently than just when this quote is spoken.
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Stuff happens in your life. We all know that. The reasons behind those things are stuff we have to think of on our own. It is more about evaluating what happened and finding something to take from it.
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This sums it up pretty well-
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This sums it up pretty well-
http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i445/KnBx2/124200902193837670_yC9biBTF_c.jpg
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I find this stance to be a very powerful lifeskill for overcoming ANY tragedy or unfortunate circumstance in one's life. So long as it's less the chosen ignorance of fishing for purely coincidental reasons and is more the openness to the learning of valuable life-lessons from whatever life might put in our path: even if it should take years to do so.
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I find this stance to be a very powerful lifeskill for overcoming ANY tragedy or unfortunate circumstance in one's life. So long as it's less the chosen ignorance of fishing for purely coincidental reasons and is more the openness to the learning of valuable life-lessons from whatever life might put in our path: even if it should take years to do so.
BUT this is NOT passive thing. It is not an easy thing. And it most certainly is NOT "fast-food". It is a stance that has to be nurtured without being artificially bolstered with the above-mentioned fabrications.
(What? You expected all good things in life to come from a pill or a drive-thru window?!)
I strongly believe (and might even assert) that ANY tragedy or unfortunate circumstance brings with it good life-lessons. I'm talking about ones that can be applied to the positive and not just to the negative (ie, "I'll never trust anyone ever again").
But the blessings that tragedy brings can take years to become apparent. Plus they are something only you "the victim" can triumph over to become first "survivor" and then in time, "overcomer". And sometimes they are more a cautionary tale for the sake of others than an "undoing" of the event for you. (Actually, they are never an "undoing" of the original event! They are more an "incorporating" of it unto success.)
So this is not a lifeskill that can co-exist with laziness, impatience, or perpetual self-centredness.
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If by "a reason" one implies mere causation, e.g. gravity acting on a mass, duh of course everything happens for "a reason".
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If by "a reason" one implies mere causation, e.g. gravity acting on a mass, duh of course everything happens for "a reason".
Once you move beyond the obvious into "meaning", as in do things happen because they "mean something", our passions and clouded human assessments of reality are want to spin the random and serendipitous into imagined schemes of order, narrative and "meaning".
Consider the hypothetical "if (person X) hadn't have told me about (thing Y), I never would have gotten into (interest Z)". The "thing happening" is (X) telling you (Y) and the "for a reason" is so you could be introduced to (Z). Had (X) not told you of (Y), would you never have gotten into (Z) through some other exposure ? Had (person A) told you about (thing B), getting you into (interest C), is that "reason" any more or less meaningful because you had spoken to (A) about (B) instead of (X) about (Y) ? Obviously everything happens for some reason or another, so without differentiating the meaning of differing paths, the unqualified question "do things happen for a reason" is useless.
The perception of coincidence is as well vulnerable to all-too-human intellectual bias and emotional frivolity. Opportunities for "any coincidence whatsoever" to happen any moment before your eyes are innumerable, and by that virtue when one does (with some frequency) it may seem too unlikely not to "mean something".
Pick a specific coincidence and wait for it to happen -- that would be a true rarity; for the next occurrence of any of all "possible coincidences", you'll never have to wait long.
Now, if subscribed to the concept of "fate", as in things are "meant to happen", as in our futures are set, however inscrutable and unknowable the grand plan might be, again of what use is this question ? If fate dictates all, what is the place of any "reason" but not to fulfill the inevitable, and thus any use beyond emotionally gratifying storytelling to ourselves ?
My gist you'll gather is the express question "do things happen for a reason" is either senseless or irrelevant (respectfully to the original poster's inquiry). Usually what people mean to impart when they use this expression is the value in taking lessons from life events to which we typically and very humanly assign "meaning", however rational.
In close keeping with human behavior, by ascribing "meaning" or "importance" we positively motivate ourselves to act and grow in response to events which present such opportunities, but they're more often than not just "sh*t happening".
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I believe that everything happens for a reason. It's a part of believing in God too. When I was applying for a university. I was being confused between 3 universities in 3 different cities. I kept thinking for days then I met all of the sudden one girl from one of these cities who told me who good the city is and that I should enroll in that university in that city. Then I didn't hear about the girl anymore. I studied probabilities. Can you tell me what's the probability of that happening meeting that girl from that city at that specific time when I was wondering about that question? It's really low.
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I believe that everything happens for a reason. It's a part of believing in God too. When I was applying for a university. I was being confused between 3 universities in 3 different cities. I kept thinking for days then I met all of the sudden one girl from one of these cities who told me who good the city is and that I should enroll in that university in that city. Then I didn't hear about the girl anymore. I studied probabilities. Can you tell me what's the probability of that happening meeting that girl from that city at that specific time when I was wondering about that question? It's really low.
This is only one story of many others in my life. I'm sure if you deeply think about yours that you will find similar stuff. =) nice question
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"Everything" is too much of a qualifier so the answer is obv No. Events can occur because of random probabilities.
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"Everything" is too much of a qualifier so the answer is obv No. Events can occur because of random probabilities.
People are free to believe there's a reason behind everything and that is a great thing to believe if it gives you peace of mind.
I'd recommend you the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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