Why is it that some believe everything happens for a reason? Don’t some of those same people also believe in free will? If everything happens for a reason, would that be true free will?
I do not know the answer, but we believe everything happens for a reason because that belief gives us hope. If our suffering is there to lead us to a greater goal, the suffering has meaning.
Pain without meaning is terrible, but once we attach a meaning to pain, we become optimistic to the future and persevere through the pain. A heartbreak is easier to manage when we take in to consideration that we are going through heartbreak to lead us to the person we are eventually supposed to be with.
Heartbreak without meaning is simply a tough time. We have the courage to endure pain and suffering when we know that we need to suffer to eventually become happy. The issue is free will.
If our lives have a predetermined end, do we have free will? Maybe our choices are already programmed into our brains and we just have the illusion that we have free will.
Maybe our end is predetermined but the means to the end are not. All I know is that even know I believe we all have free will, I still believe everything happens for a reason because without that belief, the hard times become even more difficult. The hope that our suffering will lead us to a better life gives pain meaning and gives me motivation to persevere.