Does everything happen for a reason?

Destiny, fate, chance, luck, coincidence- there is no doubt that there are moments in everyone’s life where one must question – did this happen accidentally, or is there a great power at play here?

When all the random jigsaw pieces of life start fitting together perfectly and you have to take a moment to pinch yourself and say, “Wait a minute – how did I end up here?”

This screenshot meme is from the movie young Frankenstein, where Gene Wilder portrays a character having a nightmare about his destiny.

I was in this exact moment last year, when I had somehow stated a good job that combined my college major and minor (which are highly unrelated – journalism and global poverty, otherwise known as agricultural economics), and all my internship and job experiences in one place. It seemed like it was too much luck when I got the call saying I had received the job.

In the interview I had been confident, but after a week of thinking it over had begun to question myself. So, getting the phone call, I needed a minute to process all that had happened. Everything fell into place just before my college graduation. And to be honest – I was more than a little shocked with how it all came together. Especially considering how I had accepted that I would likely be struggling for months to find the right job.

There are some people who believe that everything is predestined, and that your life is planned from the start. Every bump in the road is just another step moving you towards your final destination. While I like this sentiment, I personally see life a little differently.

I do think that obstacles in life can push you forward, but each individual is responsible for their own actions. It is their own will power they must use to push themselves forward, whether or not fate is involved.

A picture I took while with coworkers.

Lately I’ve been reading a book called “Everything Happens For A Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved,” by Kate Bowler. I’m still reading the book, and have not found yet the message from the author. However, it has made me think a lot about how good things happen to some people, while others continue to face unforeseen challenges in life. And how it can all feel random and unexplainable at times.

I’m no specialist on life, the divine, belief systems or the complex interworking’s of the universe – but contemplating these questions help me to analyze my own approach to life.

So- what do you all think? Is there such a thing as fate or destiny? Is it luck? Is there a more complicated mechanism that subconsciously drives us through the universe? Or, is it simply that each of us control our own lives?