Do you think everything happens for a reason?

Melisandre121 · 20-08-2016 09:18PM #1

Or is this something we tell ourselves to make sense of things and make ourselves feel better? I like to think everything happens for a reason but I do wonder sometimes if life is just completely random.

XR3i · 20-08-2016 09:19PM

ya

cantdecide · 20-08-2016 09:20PM

I say this often but never mean it. It's all random. You have to take control of lots of things in life and other things you have no control over.

ladyella · 20-08-2016 09:22PM

A few weeks ago I might have said yes but my friends lovely mam has just passed away, completely out of the blue, for no reason whatsoever. Its very hard to come up with a justification for it. So no, I don't think things happen for a reason

Melisandre121 · 20-08-2016 09:24PM

ladyella wrote: »

A few weeks ago I might have said yes but my friends lovely mam has just passed away, completely out of the blue, for no reason whatsoever. Its very hard to come up with a justification for it. So no, I don't think things happen for a reason

Aw, sorry to hear that.

mansize · 20-08-2016 09:25PM

It's a coping mechanism

glowinthedark · 20-08-2016 09:28PM

That's what most Religions would have you believe but its hard to justify all the bad things that happen.

Burial. · 20-08-2016 09:35PM

Yeah but not in the soppy perception. You f*cked up for a good reason in the same way you succeeded for a good reason. I like the Stoicism approach to it.

Felix Jones is God · 20-08-2016 09:38PM

No,.it's just a silly saying to make people feel better when life kicks them in the nuts.
Life is random, faith and predestination are myths and in the immortal words of Talk Talk "life's what you make it"

lazygal · 20-08-2016 09:45PM

No. Generally you make your choices based on circumstances. Sometimes it works out, sometimes things are unfair. Life can be completely random. It's a meaningless phrase trotted out by people who can't think what else to say.

Capt'n Midnight · 20-08-2016 09:47PM

As you go through life you'll collect more evidence of the conspiracy against you.

SEPT 23 1989 · 20-08-2016 09:52PM

You have the stone cold pillars of birth and death and the rest is luck

Ficheall · 20-08-2016 09:53PM

Yes, everything happens for a reason. Not part of some grand plan, but because that's how cause and effect generally works.
Your girlfriend broke up with you?
Everything happens for a reason.
Probably because you're a cunt.

Your toast was burnt?
Everything happens for a reason.
Probably because the kitchen went on fire.
Because you're an idiot.

Etc.

tomwaterford · 20-08-2016 09:53PM

No.....you make your life

No matter how bad the hand your dealt....it's up to you to make the most of it

Olishi4 · 20-08-2016 10:07PM

Isn't there some idea that because of the accumulation of your experiences whether you are 1 or 50 or whatever that you are kind of predetermined to react a definate way to things. Not that anyone can predict it or it justifies anything but you are certain to have that reaction.

lazybones32 · 20-08-2016 10:20PM

Yes, in the sense that everything happens because it's been caused by someone or something.

I don't believe that absolutely everything that has happened, has happened because it was predetermined to happen exactly as it did and that it had to happen.

Capt'n Midnight · 20-08-2016 10:36PM

Harsh but

Column A
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/15/2f/ca/152fcaf501662adb42014e54714f0cca.jpg

Column B
The perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum.
- O'Toole's Corollary of Finagle's Law

And remember
People, what a bunch of bastards

Mam of 4 · 20-08-2016 10:42PM

lazybones32 wrote: »

Yes, in the sense that everything happens because it's been caused by someone or something.

I don't believe that absolutely everything that has happened, has happened because it was predetermined to happen exactly as it did and that it had to happen.

This I agree with . Cause and effect I think?

No matter what , either way good or bad, we learn something from it .

Joeseph Balls · 20-08-2016 10:47PM

No, it's like the old sayings. Recently a house came up in our area. Lovely 5 bedroom bungalow, on a 1 acre site, large lawns albeit meadows at this stage and for a bargain, in our area where houses don't come up for sale much. We couldn't make up the deposit for a mortgage yet.
My mother...
"Ah what's for you, won't pass you. Believe in that, God will look after ya".
Ended up being bought by someone who now rents it for 750 p/m. God looked after him :rolleyes:
Feck it, if you can't laugh you'd cry as they say.

jimmy blevins · 20-08-2016 10:49PM

I put it down to **** happens personaly. Its probably the midway point between having a religious/spiritual or totally pragmatic perspective on life. It's a modern form of stoicism for apathic slackers I suppose.

"an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium. The school taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge; the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain."

mzungu · 20-08-2016 10:56PM

No, I don't really buy into that personally. A nice thing to tell ourselves when things are going a bit pear shaped, but the reality is no. The world is indifferent to us.

FizzleSticks · 20-08-2016 11:04PM

This post has been deleted.

Estrellita · 20-08-2016 11:08PM

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

No, it's like the old sayings. Recently a house came up in our area. Lovely 5 bedroom bungalow, on a 1 acre site, large lawns albeit meadows at this stage and for a bargain, in our area where houses don't come up for sale much. We couldn't make up the deposit for a mortgage yet.
My mother...
"Ah what's for you, won't pass you. Believe in that, God will look after ya".
Ended up being bought by someone who now rents it for 750 p/m. God looked after him :rolleyes:
Feck it, if you can't laugh you'd cry as they say.

Prepare yourself for a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of people with more money than you squash your dreams of a new home. I think the house searching has to completely break you before you finally get a place. Being out done my investors will deflate and anger you. You have to believe the house is out there for you. We've loved and lost that many times you begin to believe it will never happen. Just save hard and don't set your heart on anywhere until your ducks are in a row

endacl · 20-08-2016 11:14PM

Melisandre121 wrote: »

Or is this something we tell ourselves to make sense of things and make ourselves feel better? I like to think everything happens for a reason but I do wonder sometimes if life is just completely random.

Pet peeve: Arbitrary. Not Random.

:pac:

Olishi4 · 20-08-2016 11:18PM

lazybones32 wrote: »

Yes, in the sense that everything happens because it's been caused by someone or something.

A bit like The Butterfly Effect

Joeseph Balls · 20-08-2016 11:26PM

Estrellita wrote: »

Prepare yourself for a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of people with more money than you squash your dreams of a new home. I think the house searching has to completely break you before you finally get a place. Being out done my investors will deflate and anger you. You have to believe the house is out there for you. We've loved and lost that many times you begin to believe it will never happen. Just save hard and don't set your heart on anywhere until your ducks are in a row

Oh I know, and thank you. After years of renting were now actively saving, should have started years ago but hindsight etc

Estrellita · 20-08-2016 11:28PM

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

Oh I know, and thank you. After years of renting were now actively saving, should have started years ago but hindsight etc

It will happen, best of luck

ForeverYoung90 · 20-08-2016 11:30PM

It's a saying to make a person feel better about a difficult/painful situation.
Life is what you make it.
Live, love, learn...

Johngoose · 20-08-2016 11:48PM

Interesting thread. I actually believe there is a certain amount of destiny, but a lot does come down to you as a person:
If you don't study for your Leaving Cert you can't expect amazing grades.
If you are overweight you have to go to the gym and alter your diet to change that.
If you treat people badly it generally comes back to bite you on the ass.
Unfortunately the genes you are given at birth determine your intelligence and physical appearance.
If somebody is good-looking they have a much smoother passage through life,as regards career,the salary of their spouse and having good-looking kids.
Personality has a huge bearing on how your life is too,social butterflies tend to have a rich and fulfilling life.
I do also believe that there is some kind of path out there for all of us though,not that we all stick to the path in front of us. I do think that alcoholics and drug addicts are wasting their lives and talents. I feel depression can be triggered by knowing that we are not using our talents or abilities correctly.

playedalive · 21-08-2016 06:19PM

Johngoose wrote: »

Interesting thread. I actually believe there is a certain amount of destiny, but a lot does come down to you as a person:
If you don't study for your Leaving Cert you can't expect amazing grades.
If you are overweight you have to go to the gym and alter your diet to change that.
If you treat people badly it generally comes back to bite you on the ass.
Unfortunately the genes you are given at birth determine your intelligence and physical appearance.
If somebody is good-looking they have a much smoother passage through life,as regards career,the salary of their spouse and having good-looking kids.
Personality has a huge bearing on how your life is too,social butterflies tend to have a rich and fulfilling life.
I do also believe that there is some kind of path out there for all of us though,not that we all stick to the path in front of us. I do think that alcoholics and drug addicts are wasting their lives and talents. I feel depression can be triggered by knowing that we are not using our talents or abilities correctly.

This is a balanced way of looking at what happens in life. I think looking at life events as if they happen for a reason is a way to console your soul (no pun intended). For example, when I lost my last job, I was able to take the time to learn to drive and look after my mental health which was affected by personal issues the jobs had exasperated. Also in my current job, the fact my manager is an absolute bullying c**t is challenging me to stand my ground and develop some backbone instead of wanting to curl up in a ball and cry and feel sorry for myself.

weemcd · 21-08-2016 06:30PM

The universe cares little for your sense of sentiment, your feelings, your entire existence in fact.

There is cause and effect, random forces and interactions. There is no divine narrative set out for your life.

Do you think everything happens for a reason?

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