What Do You Mean ‘Everything Happens for a Reason’?

Examining how a worn out cliché might be helpful to us — just not in the way we might think

Mike Sturm
The Apeiron Blog
Published in
5 min readMay 4, 2020

Throughout my life, I have consistently heard the phrase “everything happens for a reason”. Sometimes, it’s said because something bad happened, and it’s supposed to be comforting. Sometimes, it’s said because something good happened, as a way to affirm something more than blind luck. But what does the phrase really mean?

A Thought Experiment

Let’s say that I’m on my way to work to give a big presentation to a huge prospective client. It’s a big deal. On the way , I get a flat tire. It’s now clear that I’m going to be late. It’s now clear that the presentation that I need to be there for — to hopefully close the deal with a huge client — is in danger.

This client means a huge commission boost for me, which my family is really depending on. It also means gaining a lot of respect at work, for being able to bring on big clients and add value to the company. And this flat tire endangers all of that.

They say everything happens for a reason. But what reason could there be for this flat tire? If you believe that there is a plan here — attributable to a divine intelligence — how good a plan could…

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Published in The Apeiron Blog

An easy to read philosophical space that aims to elicit discussion and debate on matters of the universe.

Written by Mike Sturm

Creator: https://TheTodaySystem.com — A simpler personal productivity system. Writing about productivity, self-improvement, business, and life.

Responses (10)

What are your thoughts?

Beautiful, Mike. Echoing the comments of Mr. Anthony here on this thread, this trite phrase, whether consciously or not is a person's way to express empathy and/or sympathy by inviting a discussion of how out of control life often becomes and the…...

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The reason for my getting the flat tire at that time was so that I could illustrate in real time to a prospective client just how well our team can overcome unforeseen obstacles and sti...

No – that wasn’t the reason for the flat tire. The flat tire had a cause but not all causes are reasons. You didn’t arrange for the flat tire, either – so you didn’t provide a forward-looking reason. You simply reacted to what happened – you made…...

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It’s humbling to just accept that shit happens. Our inability to be humble in that way explains, in large part, conspiracy theories. We project our lack of humility onto the world. A popular president is offed and we just don’t feel right about a…...

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