And the Answer Is….Could Be.

A few weeks ago, I was idly reading through a set of what I guess would be properly termed as “inspirational” type cards…not greeting cards, but a deck of cards with positive messages inscribed upon them…I suppose “motivational” would be a more accurate depiction of them. I came across one that set the old wheels to turning. According to the message on this particular card, everything that happens in our lives, every encounter, event, person, each stroke of good luck, and all tragedy…you get my drift…every single one of these events which occur in our lives is for our benefit.

My initial reaction, upon reading this chocked full of wisdom quip was….well now, there is a butt load of crap….scoffing and spitting all the while. But those words, that statement, began bouncing around in my convoluted little brain, as if someone had released the lever on a Pachinko machine and was soon consuming my thoughts , eventually becoming like sideways rain…there was no escaping it, no matter which direction I turned. For those of you who have suffered the wrath of sideways, rain, you know precisely what I mean.

At that point, I felt I had not choice other than to investigate that little matter and do some serious pontificating. I frequently get such things on my mind and cannot let them go until I have worked them out to my satisfaction, often driving myself crazy in the process and frequently dragging a few others along with me for the ride.

I contemplated this matter mightily for sometime, going over certain life events that I would not have  put within five hundred miles of the winner circle…tracing them from the time of the “happening” until present day. I was a bit surprised at what I discovered. Indeed, there was, buried in each unsavory occurrence, a treasure of benefits. There were the gifts of lessons learned, the coming of new and wonderful people into my life, including two of my most “beloveds”,  as well as the removal of some that had no place in my life. The revelation that certain circumstances had given me that extra motivation, in spite of a disability, to be independent and free. If nothing else, I realized that I am a lot tougher, stronger individual that I realized.

After I had chewed upon the matter singly, I then spoke to a couple of the voices of reason and wisdom that grace my life. One of them presented a string of goodness that resulted from a tragic loss, which rather amazed me. Not because she could find the good in the situation, she is the Queen of Good Findings, but from the number of good events in the “string”.  Another shared with me her belief that every event has a lesson to be learned, and that sometimes, we are not always meant to be the student of the lesson, but that we are sometimes meant to be the teacher. I do not know for sure that I have been able to teach anyone a thing, stemming from what often seems to be mountains of adversity, but I truly hope I have.

So, dear readers, I concluded that yes, it could be that every event is for our benefit. I decided that I could not be one hundred percent sure, as I truly have no way of knowing if, without said event, the treasures that I discovered would have remained buried, but I can truly say that in pondering the matter, and dissecting certain unpleasantries, I did find many benefits that have not only enriched my life, but have done wonders to soften the blows of adversity.