Everything Happens For A Reason

The traditions of the past are slowly fading, but for me there’s still nothing like the smell of paper and the physical beauty of print books. I was recently at my favorite bookstore on the Upper West Side. I was browsing the long aisles, looking at hundreds of covers and reading synopses. I came across a great book called “Everything Happens For A Reason” written by Mira Kirshenbaum and after reading it, developed a new perspective on leading a functional life.

The author is a psychotherapist and the best thing about this book is that she uses interesting real life stories from her professional practice as well as her personal experience as the child of Holocaust survivors. According to Kirshenbaum, when we discover the true meaning of the events in our lives, everything changes. We feel stronger because our sense that everything has meaning gives us great confidence. We feel wiser because we see how everything connects. We become more in touch with who we are because we know that we are living the life we were meant to lead. And we feel happier because we are able to put our losses behind us and have a sense of a future filled with good things.

Kirshenbaum argues that people who discovered why unfortunate things happened to them were able to move forward with inner strength, feeling confident and full of hope. And based on her research and statistical analysis for identifying patterns in all the different reasons people found, she reveals a list of the ten meanings of the events in our lives:

1. To help you feel at home in the world
2. To help you totally accept yourself
3. To show you that you can let go of fear
4. To bring you to the place where you can feel forgiveness
5. To help you uncover your true hidden talent
6. To give you what you need to find true love
7. To help you become stronger
8. To help you discover the play in life
9. To show you how to live with a sense of mission
10. To help you become a truly good person

“Everything Happens For A Reason” is the story of these ten reasons, what they are and why they are important. It works on the reader by offering easy diagnostic questions and relevant real life stories in each chapter.

Like many people, I’ve had my share of life struggles and asked myself several times “why is this happening to me?”. Reading this book helped me discover the reasons why I went through something really bad, and more importantly, made me feel safe and hopeful going forward. I also realized that similar things kept happening to me until I learned and grew as a human being in certain areas of my life.

If you are dealing with some personal or work related event from your past or some situation today, I strongly recommend that you try to find meaning in it. You will feel more positive and a better future will be open to you.