Everything does not happen for a reason. But most things do.
Some things happen because the right choices are made. Some because the choices were wrong. Long term success or failure are usually the result of a preponderance of one or the other.
Some things happen because of hard work or good instincts. Sometimes you really are where you are because you're stupid.
I don't mean you, of course.
On the other hand, there's chaos. What's the reason for a tornado? A deer on a dark highway? Why does a kid get leukemia? Explain dementia in an elderly wife while her husband's mind stays sharp.
How about getting laid off 20 years into a career?
Those things aren't the results of bad choices, no matter what the tv preacher or social media imparts. Some things simply happen because someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Or the right place at the right time. Chaos works both ways, just like your choices.
If I went for a ride on my way-back machine, I think I could report I've been in the right place at the right time way more often than the opposite. I've got some incredible experiences and connections that resulted from random circumstances.
Everything does not happen for a reason. But most things do and it's best to own as much of it as you can. Your life is not predetermined. It's not written in the stars.
This is not the matrix, the red pill won't open your eyes no matter how cool you think Keanu is. The odds are really against all of us, one way or another. The man is holding us down.
So stop making excuses and get on with it.
I apologize. We were doing self-help with SJ a couple of weeks ago. I didn't really mean to go on this rant.
The reason I'm writing everything does not happen for a reason is the fortune in the cookie from Peking Express telling me everything happens for a reason.
I think it triggered me. Let's be honest. Everything happens for a reason is an excuse a lot of people use to duck responsibility. It's weak and it's self serving. Most of all, it's hurtful to those trying to cope with tragedy. It's as useless as offering thoughts and prayers.
Maybe it's the timing. August is a month full of family birthdays. My brother, daughter, nephew and grand-daughter were born this month. This is the first birth anniversary since my brother Johnny left us. He'd be disappointed if I didn't point out that he and his first niece and nephew had birthdays 3 days in a row.
So Happy Birthdays Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday to John the Third, Jaron, and Samantha Ruth.
When it comes to birthdays, everything does happen for a reason. No explanation should be needed, so Google it if you're confused. But after that birthday, maybe there's a reason, maybe there isn't. Maybe we'll understand it, maybe we won't.
Everything might happen for a reason, but some we're never going to know.