Isn't it funny how, sometimes, things just work out? That disaster is narrowly avoided due only to a set of circumstances that could not be planned in advance, or even conceived of in one's wildest imagination?
For instance, about a month ago, I had a day off. I had planned to head out of town early in the morning, in order to spend three days with family. However, I slept in, and found myself in a not-too-ambitious mood. Instead of heading out immediately that morning, I lounged around a bit. In fact, I was sitting on my couch, about an hour after I had planned to leave, when my cat jumped up to sit next to me. That's nothing unusual. What was unusual is that her paws were soaking wet. I stared at them for a moment, trying to piece things together, then tore downstairs to my basement, only to find the entire floor under about four or five inches of water. My water heater had burst, and water was gushing out of it.
After a state of panic that lasted more than a few minutes, and a state of anxiety that plagued me until I found someone to come and install a new water heater, things worked out okay.
But every time I sat down to think about things, the one sentence that kept reverberating in my stressed-out brain was "Thank goodness I didn't leave first thing this morning."
Can you imagine my water bill at the end of a three-day trip? Never mind that my house would likely have floated away.
But this is an excellent example of things working out, without any sort of plan.
Some people may believe it's divine intervention, or that the stars are aligning when disaster is narrowly avoided in this manner. Whatever your belief system - fate, one God or many looking out for us - many people accept that when these sorts of things happen, it's meant to be. It's fate. Events rolled out that way for a grander purpose, a reason that we may not even be aware of at the time.
However, if we buy into the idea that things happen the way they do for a reason, we have to be willing to accept that bad things also sometimes happen for a larger purpose - not just good. Had I left the house as planned that morning, and gone away for three days, and the water heater broke and absolutely ruined my house, I'd have to accept that it happened for a reason, even if I had no idea what that reason was at the time.
That bad things happen for a reason is really a hard concept to accept, especially when you're in the middle of a bad thing happening, like a loved-one's illness, a financial disaster, or just a nasty set of circumstances in general.
The key, I feel, to this philosophy of life, is not just to be thankful for a good turn, or sad about a bad, is to look at what we can learn from both. I learned, from my good turn with my broken water heater, that I need to start turning off my water when I leave my house. I also learned the ins and outs of trying to get a plumber to my house, how to deal with insurance agents, and that a hot bath can be a wonderful thing after a long day of writing - things that will stand me in good stead in the future.
We can look back at a bad turn the same way - as a learning experience. From what I've experienced, trying to determine what you've learned can help you accept the situation and find some closure to it. It can also teach you how to avert other similar disasters in the future. Live and learn - isn't that what we're told to do?
