10/22/2024
This came across my personal feed this morning. I am guilty of saying everything for a reason. Now to correct myself to say everything for an opportunity 💞
I used to say everything happens for a reason.It was what I heard and I used to say it to those who were going through things.
Until 2 loving women set me straight.
1 woman was my meditation teacher. I remember sitting in meditation teacher training and we were talking about navigating tough circumstances. And I piped up and said, “well everything happens for a reason.”
She stopped the class and said, “I prefer to say everything happens for an opportunity, because we may never know why bad things happen to good people.”
Being a stubborn Virgo at the time, I wasn’t convinced she was right, but I acquiesced, as I didn’t want to make a fuss and pondered the statement some more.
At the break, a beautiful young lady sought me out to have a conversation. She shared with me how damaging it was to say, “everything happens for a reason.”
She shared with me that her mother completed su***de when she was just 12 years old. People who tried to comfort her at her mother’s funeral and in her grief would say to her, “everything happens for a reason.” So she started to believe that she might have been the reason her mother took her life. She went down a very dark road of healing until someone said to her, “everything happens for an opportunity”. It gave her power back, because instead of looking back for a reason, she now had to look forward to see what could she do with this.
The truth is bad things happen to good people. And we may never know the reason why. But when we look at what is the opportunity now for us and what can we do with this mess we have been given, we get to make it mean something better. We can let it be our ignition into greatness.
So please learn from my mistake, and never say, “everything happens for a reason” especially to someone in grief. Instead - ask what is the opportunity? And let it heal you. ❤️
Author - Sheetal Story
Me - I freaking love this ❤️