Everything Happens for a reason

I’m too often lead to believe that everything happens for a reason. Maybe I’m missing a logical fallacy here. Or perhaps I just don’t notice how nothing worked out just fine on those days where things seem to be spinning out of control.  I’ve come to realize how holistic I am.  I often see random connections between different things, or perhaps I just hope certain things happen. A while back, I wrote about this idea…that everything happens for a reason. Between then and now, my logic has been working to fully experience this idea and wrap my head around. I’d sort of forget the notion for a bit, and then return to it when something relevant in my life occurred. Last week, there was a dance at school, and after my experience at the end of the dance, I don’t think I will forget the idea that everything happens for a reason. 

Andover has dances quite frequently, and at the closing of every term, there’s a semi-formal. Getting ready may be the best part, as everyone in my dorm is helping each other get ready and it’s simply amazing to see everyone dress up together after a term of hard work. The process of dressing up is made a cultural element of our school along with taking photos…lots of them…before our party. The funniest scene I’ve been to is going to a party within the first 30 minutes to find an empty dance floor and a huge crowd of people taking photos at the entrance.  We’re young. And we like to take photos. However, last weekend, I decided not to bring my phone with me because I somehow came to the conclusion that dancing with a phone in one hand was inconvenient. I left my phone in the pocket of my jacket, which was hanging up with all the other jackets. I remember being frustrated when I didn’t have my phone to take photos. I kept saying to myself, “how could you have left your phone in your jacket?” After that evening, it turns out leaving my phone in my pocket was one of the better impulsive mistakes I’ve made in a while. When the dance was over, I went over to the coat racks to find my jacket and I couldn’t find it. After searching (and much panicking), I realized that someone had probably taken it. It’s worth a pretty penny, but I realized that probably must have mistaken it for theirs since it’s a popular jacket at school. 

Thank goodness I hadn’t been able to take those photos at the party! If I had, I would have lost my jacket and have had to walk back to the dorm in 20-degree weather with a sleeveless dress. I used the handy-dandy Find My iPhone app to recover my jacket and true to my initial notion, someone had mistaken it for theirs on the coat rack. 

Perhaps things may seem dire in the midst of them. Maybe I failed that one math test as a wakeup call for me to study more for the following one. Thinking for the benefits of the future has been a primary focus of mine and I place this odd faith on some eternally existent fate that each of us is predestined to follow. Failing once, or not getting something once in the moment is okay, as long as I take something away from it for the future. The present matters…but it really prepares us for the future.