Have you ever heard the old expression, "Everything happens for a reason"? I'm sure you have heard it at least once in your life when something bad or even good happened. People tend to use this expression when something happens, yet no one knows exactly why it did. You can be a believer that everything does have a reason for happening or you can believe that it is just an old myth. I personally am a believer. I have always been an over thinker and I over analyze almost every situation. This has caused me over the years to believe that everything happens for a reason. The only problem with believing this is that sometimes there is no clear explanation as to why things happen. Rather we must find peace with knowing that it was meant to happen and that there is some cause for why it did, whether it be to teach a life lesson or to be a stepping stone to something greater.

This past year has been a roller coaster of events for me, good and bad. I began my first year of college and was finally moving away from home. The upcoming weeks before moving in, I began to get extremely excited, but also anxious, stressed and terrified. I was nervous that I was not going to make new friends, or I was going to get homesick, or even that I was not fit for the "college life." My mind was going in a thousand directions at one time and it was extremely stressful. Little did I know, the end of my summer and the beginning of my college experience would soon be turned upside down. One week before moving onto campus, I had broken my ankle and needed to get major surgery. I was unable to walk for a couple of months, which got in the way of adjusting to the college life. It took almost the entire year to get to know people and to become familiar with the campus. I cried countless times because I was frustrated that I could not go anywhere or do anything and especially because I did not understand why this happened to me. But as I healed, I remembered something that my mom said to me before leaving for college, "Everything happens for a reason." At the time I thought that there could be absolutely no good reason as to why this happened. What could possibly be the reason for this?!! Thinking about it over and over again, I finally came to a conclusion, well at least my own version, as to why I broke my ankle.

I had realized that I had been so stressed and anxious about the future, and not enjoying the present. In my own perspective, I believe that it happened in order to slow me down. It helped me take a step back and made my mind take a break instead of going a million miles per hour. I kept pushing myself to work and keep myself busy instead of taking the time to just stop and catch a breather.

I believe it also happened to help open my eyes. Since I was unable to walk for a couple of months, I learned the perspective of others who are unable to walk all of the time. It made me appreciate both of my legs and thankful that my broken ankle was only temporary.

Not having the ability to do simple things, like opening a door with ease as I juggled my books and my knee scooter, made me learn different things about different people. There were countless times where people would just watch and stare at me struggling to get through a door or as I went across campus. This made making friends ten times harder. Of course not all people were like that, though. In fact, I met my best friend when she graciously helped me up the steps because the elevator was broken. It might sound silly, but it helped me see the true sides of people.

Although this is just a small and personal example that not everyone can relate to on a personal level, I believe that there is still a way to find reasoning in things that happen. Whether it be an accident, a breakup, losing your job, or death, there is always an underlying reason as to why it happened. But it is up to you to discover the true meaning of it. Although it may be hard, there is always a good reason to why something bad happened. To raise awareness, to start fresh, or to find who you truly are and who you are destined to be.

Everything happens for a reason, but sometimes, we must be willing to dig a little deeper to find the true meaning.