“Everything happens for a reason.” Does it?

Or is that just something our brains invented because “sometimes terrible things happen for absolutely no good reason” is a much harder sentence to swallow? 😂

Maybe our minds are little meaning-making machines. Something happens, and immediately we go: “Okay… but WHY?”

Because if there’s a reason, then maybe there’s a lesson.
If there’s a lesson, then maybe the pain wasn’t pointless.
And if it wasn’t pointless… maybe we don’t have to feel quite so much of it.

And then there’s religion, philosophy, culture, family... all offering versions of the same comforting idea: There is a plan. Trust it. Everything has a purpose.

And honestly? Sometimes that belief can be incredibly comforting.

But I wonder if we sometimes use it to skip the messy middle.

Maybe some things don’t happen for a reason.

Maybe they simply happen.

And then we get to decide what meaning we make from them.

That feels very different.

It means I don't have to call the pain “good.”

I don't have to pretend I’m grateful for what hurt me.

I don't have to find a cosmic explanation before I’m allowed to heal.

I can simply say:

“That happened. It hurt. It changed me. And now I get to choose what I do with what happened.”

Maybe meaning isn't something we discover.