I am a firm believer in the idea that everything happens for a purpose, and for my good. This is all swept up in my religion, but this maxim doesn’t necessarily have to be linked to faith; I’ve met plenty of people who believe in this idea but not in any particular god. Yes, my faith in the “right place at the right time” idea has been shaken several times. But in retrospect, every single thing that has happened to me can be seen to follow this rule.
As an example, last November I was in a car accident. I was the person driving, and I was alone in the vehicle. Being inexperienced at driving in poor conditions, I was probably going too fast and didn’t know enough to realize how icy the roads were. Unsurprisingly, as I turned a notorious corner, the car went out of control. I ended up driving off the road, hitting a small tree, spinning around 180 degrees and coming to a stop, air bags exploded and radio still playing. The car was totalled; I was without a drive to work. My leg was bruised from the front of the car smashing inwards, and it was freezing outside.
To me, though, my accident was more of a miracle than a disaster. To begin with, the car was old—a faithful, much loved 2005 Toyota Echo—and it wasn’t likely to pass its next safety inspection. I wasn’t hurt badly at all, and I didn’t hit any other cars when I lost control on the road. As I stepped out of the wreck, a neighbor of mine who also happens to be a professional paramedic happened to be driving by and gave me a warm car to sit in until help arrived. And to top it all off, I now know how to be a better driver in winter weather.
There are a lot of situations like this in my life where things seem so bad, and yet could have been so much worse. Like my car accident, thing happen where you can’t help but realize that if it had to occur, that was the best way for it to have done so: I hated being in a crash, but if it had to happen, it was good that it was to an old car, and that no one was hurt. And even if you can’t find a silver lining in it now—trust me, there are a lot of times when I haven’t been able to understand what was good about something that occurred—maybe someday you’ll look back on those things that happened to you and realize that if things went differently, you wouldn’t be where you are today.
I have to remind myself this quite often. The most recent example happens to be another car situation I got into, only a month ago. This time, deer jumped into my car, smashing most of the front passenger side. The car was finally fixed, and after innumerable difficulties, costs, and delays, I picked it up yesterday. I was incredibly happy to get my car back. Then, this morning, which was particularly cold, I turned up the heat in the car too quickly and the windshield cracked.
So yes, right now I find it hard to see a good side to this situation. It seems I have some pretty bad luck with cars! But I still believe that this was the best way for this to happen. Who knows—maybe someday I’ll own a Porsche, and when I turn on its heat on a cold morning, I’ll know better because of this and avoid a cracked windshield. Until then, I’m happy with my 10-year-old Toyota, and the knowledge that everything is working out for my good.
