Everything Happens For… Thingies!

“Everything happens for a reason” is one of the silliest phrases I’ve ever heard.  Alright, fine, you’d like to think that every good thing that’s ever happened to you is part of some grand plan, but wake up; stuff just happens, good or bad.

Think about it; how would one go about proving that ‘everything happens for a reason’?  Picture two eggheads on a stage battling this out.  Forget that… let’s start with this statement, courtesy moi: “everything happens because thingies rule”.  Like it?…well, I do.  So now let’s prove it.  My proof is simple: thingies do rule and stuff does happen… therefore stuff happens because thingies rule…

Q.E.D.

Alright, my “proof” is a bit (read: majorly) flawed, but it’s just as flawed as the silly statement I set out to discredit, no?  Stuff just happens and you can apply any reason or no reason for its happening and stuff STILL just happens.

Let’s say your car battery dies and AAA is coming to tow you.  Now the AAA-approved tow truck driver is kinda cute, so you agree to go out with him.  Years later you are now married to the guy and you have kids, a nice home and life is good.  So you tell all your bored-with-your-story friends how the battery dying happened for the reason of introducing you to this guy.  Sounds poetic, right?  Ugh.  Fast forward another couple of years and Mr. Tow Truck is towing some younger, hotter, childless chick and he’s hooked up with her and left you holding the bag and the kids.  Now, tell me, did that happen ‘for a reason’?  No, of course not, because it’s something horrible and you’re living it.  

However, if you then turn things around and meet Mr. CEO, who is much nicer (read: richer) than Mr. Tow Truck and settle into a newer, bigger home, then that chance meeting will likely be termed as ‘happening for a reason’.  Apparently the phrase only can be used if: a) things are currently good or b) things are good and they were formerly bad or c) you’re an author/motivational speaker/priest/etc and stand to benefit in some way by people who listen to your sermon.  It sort of parallels religion like when someone gets terminally ill, if they survive, then everyone thanks god, but if they die, no one blames god.  And no one every blames god for getting them sick in the first place, but this is a whole different blog post and I digress.

There can be some good drawn from ‘everything happens for a reason’, but it’s limited to those who look inside themselves on a regular basis (not just when things suck) for any chance to improve.  If you get fired, for example, you can whine about it or you can try to figure out why you were blasted and turn your life into something better and maybe even start a whole new career.  Or if your family falls apart and stops talking to you, you can look inside yourself and see what led them to that conclusion and make things better going forward.

Things happen every day, but it’s not for any specific reason; they simply happen just as the sun rises and sets, which, ironically, does happen for a reason.  I guess everything does happen because thingies rule.