Many people believe everything happens for a reason. Turning the incident and the reason why it happened into a meaningful lesson is a powerful tool of maturity and growth. But a ‘why me’ approach to everything that happens can be debilitating.

Our attitude about what happens influences our happiness and outlook on life.

I stubbed my toe because I didn’t see the chair in front of me— because the room was dark.

There’s a cause/effect for everything that happens.  Either I caused it, or I didn’t. But in either case, what lesson does it teaches?

People who believe everything happens for a reason believe even stubbing your toe isn’t a random event. There’s a bigger meaning.

People want to know why things happen to them. Why, Why, Why?

If there’s a reason or lesson about things happening to me, I want to learn it too.

The reason was simple in the toe-stubbing example. But what’s the big takeaway?

Next time, turn on the lights before walking.

But suppose you disregard the lesson-to-be-learned and next time you fall over the chair and break a hip?

We can learn from simple mistakes to prevent bigger ones.

We try to find a moral reason for some happenings, especially when it involves family, relationships, personal goals, and health.

Why didn’t I get the promotion? Why did I get rear-ended?

I never discovered why I was rear-ended three weeks before Christmas one year. I knew the cause/effect— it was that lady’s fault.  I thanked God; no one was injured and moved on. Maybe the bigger lesson was for the other driver.

But we are rear-ended by so many things while traveling the road of life. And it’s no one’s fault.

The meaning or lessons learned from various impactful things and our response to them help us become the persons we are.

When life happens, finding meaning doesn’t mean you have to be happy about troubles.  Finding meaning or coming to terms with the problem helps the manageability of the situation. You gain something from it and move on with LIFE.

This is where the Serenity Prayer may help.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Yes, I believe things happen for a reason, and knowing this helps me to better deal with my situations.

We change and grow from the gravitational pull of life on our being with God’s tender mercies.

Be encouraged.