Everything happens for a reason.
I hear the saying often, so often that it has become a cliché. I often feel a bit uneasy, when people feed me that phrase whenever I face certain hardship in my life. It seems to me that they have no constructive input, and just throw the words to make them sound like they’re helping. Of course I am being harsh and unreasonable, but in a time of distress, I don’t think I’ll fancy hearing that this stressful situation is written for me. I don’t think most actually want to be advised such a thing.
Anyway, I guess I am being very impatient. A quick fix, to my furry little problems, which will often just be a band-aid solution. It only covers the wound, and does nothing to heal it. The story goes; I have recently faced a few challenges in which one of them drives me totally insane. Some say, be patient, for everything happens for a reason. Ideally that works, but when the problems hit you right on your head, then all the ideals are gone down the drain, and negativity starts to envelop you. That’s what’s been happening.
I am not religious in a sense that I don’t follow any religious authorities; I follow my own interpretation and thinking when it comes down to spirituality or divine scripture. Anyway, I have always related to the story of Jonah, as narrated in the Qur’an. A messenger, who was aware of God and his laws, but he couldn’t bear what he went through and he ran away. He was swallowed a “fish”, repented and swam to the shore. I have always felt like that. That I am now inside the belly of the fish, just like Jonah. Problems are overpowering me, and devouring me from within. I often wonder what went through Jonah’s head when he was inside the fish’s belly (which I believe is a metaphor for being consumed by his problems, his internal darkness). Did he ask God why certain things happened? Did he acknowledge that everything happened for a reason?
Certainly the current me is not Jonah. I am still inside the belly, and I am still regaining the strength to break free, and swim to the shore. But I have given a serious thought regarding all the chain of events that I have experienced. It was tough, but I acknowledged that they did happen for a reason. They were truly painful, but I think I have now understood the wisdom behind everything. God has laid out a scenario, as He knows well how I and the people around me will react. When He decreed, “Be!” to that one event, He knew what paths His people would take. What I would take, what others would take. Truly, the whole thing has enlightened me. As painful as it is, the experience is there to “wake me up”, and show me what I have to start doing. My purpose in life. The burning passion in me, that almost died without me realising it. It is sparking again, and I have to make sure it will keep burning.
Now I just need to break free, and swim to the shore. Jonah, I wish to see you there.
