does everything happen for a reason? Options

[nightowl89]

prompted by a sex and the city rerun and the crazy day I had:

I was suppose to go on a school trip to Boston today and see my crush who I havn't seen in like a yr and a half. We had a meeting last night getting all pumped up for it...and then this moring they cancelled it because of a blizzard that was suppose to hit sunday when we would be coming back.

Naturally i was really depressed...but then I called to apologize to him about not being able to hang out...my first time calling him. it was a great convo, I felt like we took a huge step forward. And I feel more comfortable about seeing him over spring break now. Of course im still sad that i won't see him for a while, but then i thought maybe i wasn't ready? aka, maybe this happened for a reason?

thoughts/stories??

[*mipadi*]

Most people don't like the idea that their lives are chaotic and random; look at the prevalence of religion for proof. Humans naturally try to attribute a reason to just about everything—X happened because of Y, and so forth. I don't believe this. To believe everything happens for a reason necessitates believing in Fate to some degree, an idea that I not only don't like, but is unsupported.

Another reason it might seem like things happen for a reason is because people only focus on events that can be linked to a conclusion. For instance, say I leave work, walk out to my car, and trip on my shoelaces. No big deal—an event I am likely to forget, because it's not unusual. But one day, I trip and fall—and because of the time delay, I avoid getting hit by a car. It would be foolish to say I tripped for a reason, because that ignores all the other times I have tripped, but didn't link them to any future event.