Nothing happens by accident

[Patryn]

I'm just sitting here, kind of bored and thinking. As I've mentioned before, I am a believer in fate. Not a religion or higher power, but that everything and everyone are somehow irrevocably intertwined. Think "It's a Wonderful Life" and how things would be different if you'd never been born.

If there isn't a reason for an event, and I'm talking about anything that affects you in any way, no matter how small, then why does anything happen?

There's a bunch of stuff going on right now in my personal life that I don't really understand, and I was just trying to figure out where it all fits, and I guess this is just the natural catharsis of my odd thought processes. I don't really expect anyone to reply, but thanks for reading my ramblings.

 

[CreamyLady]

I'm a great believer in synchronicity, myself, but others might think it is a result of the choices one made.

The short version is one's chickens coming home to roost.

It's another interesting problem to think about while swabbing that deck.

 

[sallygirl]

It's a very comforting thought that something, be it fate or something else, is guiding the events in your life. But why does there have to be a reason for everything that happens? YOU make events meaningful; YOU decide their reasons.

Things happen directly because of decisions you've made, even if it's something as simple as whether to turn right or left. And then you do the best with what you get.

If you believe in fate, then you also must believe you have a destination or specific purpose in life. Have you figured out what yours is yet?

 

[Patryn]

Honestly, I've had some freaky shit happen. I won't go into detail, it's too long to explain, but it's a bit much to just be coincidence. And it keeps happening.

Purpose? I dunno...I don't think there is an end, that you'll eventually sit down and say "Here! This is where I was supposed to be all along" but I suppose it could happen. As for my own personal purpose, well...that's personal.

 

[Cheyenne]

I don't believe in fate in terms of everything being predetermined for my life. But I have many times said something like "everything happens for a reason. I may not know right now what that reason is, and I may never know, but there is a reason xxxx happened as it did." It kind of goes along with "God works in mysterious ways" and "oh oh, I think God is trying to tell me something." Or, maybe God has nothing to do with it and the issue is really hindsight- being able to look back on some event and make more sense of it, understand it better, at that future date.

I have one great example that I use often. I was fired back in the early 90's in a downsizing from a job I thought I really loved. When I was fired, I was not a happy camper and I was just lost without that job to go to. I didn't know why being fired had happened to me. I even bought books to read to try to make sense of what had happened and what I was supposed to do to get over it. With hindsight, I understand. I say God pushed me, because I needed to be pushed. I learned several things:

1) I am strong and I survived being fired. It didn't kill me and it wasn't the end of the world. I no longer fear being fired because I know I can handle it and come out stronger in the end. That takes a lot of worry out of my life compared to quite a few people who have never been through unemployment. And I can be as ethical as I need to be, taking the high road on many issues where taking the low road would have less risk for me in losing my job. Ethics are more important than the job.

2) I wasn't all that happy in the job anyway. I worked a lot of hours, and I missed a lot in life. The spring I was fired, I watched the trees bud and watched summer arrive one day at a time. I noticed blue skys and sunny days and fluffy white clouds. I saw little kids laughing and playing. All things I'd "seen" but had forgotten to really look at for a very long time. I've tried to remember to notice all of those things, the little things, since then.

3) Related to #2, I probably wouldn't have left that job on my own. I wouldn't have made the effort to update my resume and do a job search. Staying where I was comfortable was much easier. I firmly believe God pushed me, because he knew there were better things waiting for me ahead. New jobs with better opportunity. Jobs I never would have taken if I hadn't been fired first from the other job. I am much farther ahead where I am now than where I would have been had I stayed with the company that fired me.

So, I can ramble with the best of them. But the summary is that you may not understand all the things that are going on in your life now right now. But you probably will, sometime in the future. You'll have hindsight to look back and understand what the effect was in your life of the things you are living through now. You'll learn something about yourself. Maybe that you are strong and ethical, or that you need to slow down and pay more attention to life. Or maybe that now is the beginning of great things to happen in your life. Who knows? But yes, everything does happen for a reason.

 

[Rosebud]

Patryn, you better sit down

I agree with you, I think all things that happen are fate.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Or stand up

I don't believe in Fate, but I do believe we often create our own "karma" (for want of a better word), or "what goes around comes around". But I also believe shit hapens, and that sometime when it rains it pours. I know that raining shit is not a nice image, but maybe that's all it is.

 

[Rosebud]

We just went through a shit storm here. His grandfather died, central air went out with 100+ degree weather, van broke down and cost us $275 to fix, his mom was diagnosed with a aneurysm, daughter cut finger and spent 4 hours in emergency room just to put butterfly bandages on it, then son cut his foot, so more butterfly bandages there too. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though, too bad it is an oncoming train....

 

[Magic Merlin]

Sometimes I think things happen that can have more meaning than we are aware of,bbut because we are not really aware of them, we just pass them off as something odd. Personally, I think there are many things that happen to each of us, opportunities for us to take advantage of, but because we live in such a materialistic and non-spiritual world, we don't really give ourselves the opportunity to notice these things.

Have you ever met people that you instantly take a dislike to? Or people that for whatever reason, you have some sort of bond with that you can't understand? I certainly have. I can't explain the feelings when they happen, but I have tried to become more aware of them and trust them. An intuition if you will.

I don't know what this thing we call life is all about. I an intensly interested in knowing the unknown. Learning everything I can about what it all means. But, I know that I will never understand everything. Or even a small amount of what there is to know. I just try to be more aware of coincidences these days. Aware of strange happenings in my life, of opportunities that come out of nowhere, of people I meet with which I have an unexplained bond. And hopefully, by being more aware I will be able to learn more about what it all means.

Patryn, I definately think many of your same thoughts. At times, I have driven myself crazy trying to understand them. The best I find I can do is to have patience with myself and realize that I will never understand everything.

 

[teresafannin]

Hi Patryn, I have been wondering about this for the last year. I had always believed that things happen for a reason: call it fate, God, whatever, but now I am not so sure. If things happen for a reason, I want to know what the reason is & what my purpose is. I had always thought I was meant to be a mom & now that my son is gone, I wonder where I fit in. I have become active in working with victims & survivors. This week I have some interviews about the shooting that cost my son his life.I still haven't totally accepted that he is gone,at least his physical presence is gone, I know his spirit is with me. I doubt that I ever will. The fact that people think I have something worthwhile to say is still a shock. Sorry for rambling, it happens when I can't sleep. Have a good night & I hope things go well for you.

 

[Cheyenne]

I had always thought I was meant to be a mom & now that my son is gone, I wonder where I fit in. I have become active in working with victims & survivors

Maybe you needed to be a really good mom first, and go through the pain of losing your beloved son, so that you could do the work you do now working with victims and survivors? Would you be doing that work, or be anywhere near as caring doing it, if you didn't have the experience of loving and losing your son in your history? That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. And better able to help others in many cases.

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

Yes they can -

Especially.... in my pants.

 

[Never]

That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
I suppose I could comment on this thread but you've heard it all before.

 

[Siren]

John Lennon summed it up best.

 

[Gingersnap]

Oh DCL you forgot "every cloud has a silver lining". " There is a disturbance in the force Luke" "OH SHIT IT IS THAT RAINING SHIT THING AGAIN"!!!

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Oh! Okay! Thanks!

 

[Isabella Thorne]

Bizarre shit!

Originally posted by Patryn Honestly, I've had some freaky shit happen. I won't go into detail, it's too long to explain, but it's a bit much to just be coincidence. And it keeps happening.

Patti dear ... that could be me talking ... those are almost exactly my words actually ... lmao .. no seriously ...

and so it goes ..