Are you right where you need to be? Does everything happen for a reason?

Leaning on our spirituality allows us to look ahead and not behind. Often, a spirituality practice coincides with absorbing things as they come. With that come common phrases like, “everything happens for a reason” and “you’re right where you need to be,” which are familiar statements made both when something goes right and when something goes wrong. But why do we hear them frequently and what meaning do they really hold? Plus, why do we sometimes embrace these ideas and other times find them cringey?

The cringe-effect: Sometimes it’s the cliche that causes us to wince and sometimes saying these phrases is invalidating. Unless we’re super in touch with our spiritual side or we frequent a religious practice, we might shake our heads at these phrases. If we’re reluctant to adopt one of these expressions, it may also be a sign that the weight of what we’re feeling is too heavy to find refuge in them.

The lighter side: When we are open to it, telling ourselves that everything happens for a reason allows us to make peace with the things we cannot control in our life. This makes more room for some optimism in a rather gloomy moment or experience.

The juxtaposition:  In addition, it is important to remember these statements don’t justify the bad things that happen in our lives. We don’t always have to find meaning in tragedy, death, or trauma. As much as we’d like answers to why something happens. 

Throughout our lives when we lean on and hold onto a form of spirituality, we can use it to help us find meaning or reasoning in our lives. It can bring us closer to connecting all of the little dots and make sense out of our lives. Spirituality comes in all shapes and forms, like religion, horoscopes, yoga, and angel numbers, all urging us to put our worries aside. The expression, “everything happens for a reason,” allows us to make sense of something positive or negative in our lives, without looking back and having regret. The phrase, “you are right where you need to be” helps pull us to the present and helps us recognize that we don’t have to be anywhere else (i.e. graduated, married, landed the perfect job). Both sayings can potentially bring us some calm and potentially bring us a feeling of acceptance.

By putting our trust in the stars, bible readings, or anything greater than ourselves, our worries can be eased. Can you think about a time you ran into someone and it just made sense? Or a time where you were reminded of a loved one you lost? These little signs remind us that we are right where we need to be. Every time we question why something happens it helps us to rationalize and think about a situation, and it helps us to get through it.

Stay Well,
Kate at Revive