By: Josie Wright ~Guest Writer~

Why does everyone always say that everything happens for a reason? I used to think that, but now I’m not so sure. We say this to make ourselves feel better. We sometimes can’t accept the things that happen to us, but most of the time there’s no explanation for why these things happen.

The only way for something to happen is if you yourself make it happen. I’ve learned from past experiences that you can’t wait around for something to happen because in the end you’ll feel nothing but regret. Most of the time, I like to wait things out, but lately I have been in control of my own life. For example, I have a math quiz every Friday, and I usually choose to go out on Thursday nights. This is my decision, and I’m in control of what happens to me. Unfortunately, I can’t control other people, but I can control myself. I have managed to do really well on all my quizzes. Doing well on my math quizzes doesn’t happen for a reason, it happens because I’m either very lucky or actually good at math.

On more serious matters, I think that death is a common question for everyone. Why do people die? Well, everyone dies, and no one can control when they die. When a loved one dies, it can be devastating. I know many people my age who have lost family members. Now this, I do not understand. They didn’t die for a reason; they died because something went wrong. Something happened, and they had no control over it. In this case, these people weren’t waiting around for something to happen. They were just normal people living their lives. Nothing makes me angrier than hearing about the death of someone who didn’t deserve to die. What did they do to deserve that? Nothing, they did nothing.

“Everything happens for a reason.” This phrase is so commonly used, and people forget the real meaning behind it. For example, I failed my driver’s test the first time but passed the second time. That didn’t happen for a reason, I just wasn’t as prepared the first time I took the test as I was the second time. That happened because I wasn’t prepared, and I made that decision to go into the test unprepared. Not every decision we make has a consequence, but if we constantly sit back because we’re afraid to fail, then what’s the point in living? Why are we here on Earth? We’re not here to sit back and see where the world takes us, we are meant to take on the world ourselves.

I cannot imagine telling myself that everything happens for a reason all of the time because it doesn’t. If we indulge ourselves in wishful thinking, the only conclusion is that whoever or whatever designs those reasons is evil. We must discard the negative thoughts and think about why things happen. Things simply just happen, and the more we continue to find a reason for those things, the more time we are wasting. For example, I was always having problems with friendships in high school. I would give 100 percent and receive nothing back. Most of those friendships eventually ended. For the longest time I felt like that happened for a reason, but those friendships ended because they weren’t strong enough to continue.

I don’t want to sound like I don’t understand why people say this, because I do. I used to say this all the time. I used to believe that everything happened for a reason, but nothing happens for a reason. Bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, people die, people fail and people make mistakes. None of these things happen for reason, they just happen.