July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Reasons not always apparent
As I See It
By Special to The Commercial Review/Diana Dolecki-
By DIANA DOLECKI
Special to The Commercial Review
Everything happens for a reason. That seems to be a new mantra for the times. I am hearing that phrase everywhere, from television shows to Facebook postings from my niece.
Of course everything happens for a reason. However, the implication is that the reason everything happens is somehow connected to the speaker of that statement. Here is where I disagree with the popular wisdom.
Natural disasters, like the recent flood in our town and the tsunami that destroyed parts of Japan happen because we inhabit a living planet. It moves, it changes. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows. Floods, fires and earthquakes are part of the natural order of things. Floods and earthquakes redistribute bits and pieces of the planet, much like a king redistributing the wealth in a kingdom. Fire is necessary for certain species to reproduce and for other species to thrive.
Flooding can also stimulate the economy by making necessary the purchase of new furnaces, water heaters, carpet and other assorted items that are damaged by water unexpectedly forming indoor swimming pools. Other natural disasters can have an equal effect on the economy.
The causes, or reasons for these events have little or nothing to do with any of us individually. They do not happen in order to teach us some kind of cosmic lesson. Natural disasters are no more an act of God than they are an act of the devil. It is simply a part of life.
You don’t believe me? Then tell me this, when I step on an ant that made its way into the house, did that ant die because it believed in the wrong God? Or maybe because it fell in love with the wrong ant? Maybe it died to teach its sister ant a lesson. Or did it die because I wasn’t watching where I was going and accidentally stepped on it?
Everything happens for a reason. I’m not sure that reason has anything to do with people, individually or in general. By believing that an event occurred because we needed to learn something, we are vastly inflating our importance in the cosmos.
The entire quote is as follows, “I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” Marilyn Monroe is the one credited with the original saying.
Let’s take another part of the quote, “things go wrong so you can appreciate them ...” Tell that to the people of Japan. Tell that to anyone who has ever survived a disaster of any kind. This is putting the blame for unforeseen events squarely on the shoulders of people who have no control over such things.
Water came up through our floor boards a few weeks ago so I could learn to appreciate dry floors? Or maybe it was so I would learn to appreciate the power of nature? Does anybody honestly believe that, I, you, or any one person, had any power to prevent or cause a river to escape its normal confines? Or was it because we had more snow than usual, followed by warm weather which melted the snow and filled up the waterways. Then when we received more rain in one night than we usually do this time of year, it was too much for the river to contain and it did what water always does which is to seek its own level.
Everything happens for a reason. It’s a nice saying; short, sweet and to the point.
On the surface the comment makes sense. We like to believe that we matter; that we make a difference in the world. We like to believe that there is order in the universe. We like to believe that the world revolves around us. To believe otherwise, is to admit that we have little control over our lives.
Everything happens for a reason. Maybe it does. I simply believe that life is far more random than that. I don’t think we have as much control over our lives as we think we do.
Things happen.
But for a reason?
I doubt it.
Everything happens for a reason. That seems to be a new mantra for the times. I am hearing that phrase everywhere, from television shows to Facebook postings from my niece.
Of course everything happens for a reason. However, the implication is that the reason everything happens is somehow connected to the speaker of that statement. Here is where I disagree with the popular wisdom.
Natural disasters, like the recent flood in our town and the tsunami that destroyed parts of Japan happen because we inhabit a living planet. It moves, it changes. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows. Floods, fires and earthquakes are part of the natural order of things. Floods and earthquakes redistribute bits and pieces of the planet, much like a king redistributing the wealth in a kingdom. Fire is necessary for certain species to reproduce and for other species to thrive.
Flooding can also stimulate the economy by making necessary the purchase of new furnaces, water heaters, carpet and other assorted items that are damaged by water unexpectedly forming indoor swimming pools. Other natural disasters can have an equal effect on the economy.
The causes, or reasons for these events have little or nothing to do with any of us individually. They do not happen in order to teach us some kind of cosmic lesson. Natural disasters are no more an act of God than they are an act of the devil. It is simply a part of life.
You don’t believe me? Then tell me this, when I step on an ant that made its way into the house, did that ant die because it believed in the wrong God? Or maybe because it fell in love with the wrong ant? Maybe it died to teach its sister ant a lesson. Or did it die because I wasn’t watching where I was going and accidentally stepped on it?
Everything happens for a reason. I’m not sure that reason has anything to do with people, individually or in general. By believing that an event occurred because we needed to learn something, we are vastly inflating our importance in the cosmos.
The entire quote is as follows, “I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” Marilyn Monroe is the one credited with the original saying.
Let’s take another part of the quote, “things go wrong so you can appreciate them ...” Tell that to the people of Japan. Tell that to anyone who has ever survived a disaster of any kind. This is putting the blame for unforeseen events squarely on the shoulders of people who have no control over such things.
Water came up through our floor boards a few weeks ago so I could learn to appreciate dry floors? Or maybe it was so I would learn to appreciate the power of nature? Does anybody honestly believe that, I, you, or any one person, had any power to prevent or cause a river to escape its normal confines? Or was it because we had more snow than usual, followed by warm weather which melted the snow and filled up the waterways. Then when we received more rain in one night than we usually do this time of year, it was too much for the river to contain and it did what water always does which is to seek its own level.
Everything happens for a reason. It’s a nice saying; short, sweet and to the point.
On the surface the comment makes sense. We like to believe that we matter; that we make a difference in the world. We like to believe that there is order in the universe. We like to believe that the world revolves around us. To believe otherwise, is to admit that we have little control over our lives.
Everything happens for a reason. Maybe it does. I simply believe that life is far more random than that. I don’t think we have as much control over our lives as we think we do.
Things happen.
But for a reason?
I doubt it.
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