Do you ever sit and wonder why something happened? Or whether there was a reason behind it? Well most use the phrase “everything happens for a reason” as an excuse or a reason for why something in their life has happened. But maybe everything really does happen for a reason. The truth is, there isn’t ever a way of us knowing because every decision we make leads us down a different path. Whether you go to one school or another, who you choose to be friends with, or whether you walk into one store or another can determine so much. 

Each decision you make really does determine a lot whether you think about it in the moment or not, even the smallest decisions can change your life. So does everything happen for a reason or are you just changing paths, changing directions? I know some even believe a higher being is somewhere watching over and sometimes protecting. That your life is already planned out. 

What if truly none of it was planned, but there is a reason you’re alive. As someone who often thinks very deeply on the reason for everything, I do believe that everything happens for a reason. I think that the people you meet and situations you go through shaped you as a person. It builds who you are and teaches you lessons on the world and how to live in it, how to deal with it. I believe that even when you go through a very bad experience, you say to yourself you didn’t need to go through that, you could’ve lived without experiencing that situation, you definitely could’ve lived without going through it. But your life also could have been so much more different. 

I interviewed an anonymous student here at Pitman High, and I asked, “Do you think that everything happens for a reason?” They replied, “Yes, everything does happen for a reason.” When I asked why, she replied with, “Everybody has their destiny, but like the decisions that you make, no matter what decisions you make you’re going to end up in the same spot you would’ve if you made completely different decisions.” It really shows that you are meant to be where you are.

Certain events happen in your life just to teach you that lesson. It could be really good or really painful. But think about it, think about a big thing that happened in your life. Now if that thing didn’t happen how do you think your life would be now? Would you have made other decisions later on based off of that experience? Would you be scared of certain things? Think about the people you meet by having that one experience. How would your life be different, if you hadn’t gone through the thing that you have been through. Long story short, every action, every decision you make creates the life you have now. So it does happen for a reason because it creates what you are living through now.