At the end of the day, the one phrase that gets me through even the toughest times in my life is “everything happens for a reason.”

As cliché as it may sound, I have a decal of the quote on my dorm room wall, I preach the saying to my friends all the time, and I don’t go one day without constantly reminding myself of these five simple words. On July 27, 2015, I randomly woke up in the middle of the night and started to wonder what I believe in. My family practices one religion, but do I practice that religion because I believe what it stands for, or because it’s what I’ve been brought up to believe? Do I even believe in God? What happens after death? Does coincidence exist? Is karma real? I sat awake for hours writing in my journal, crossing things out, and rewriting bullet points about what I could possibly believe in. And then it hit me. To me, each and every one of us are connected to one another. We are all strands that connect in a single spider web. Coincidence does not exist, timing is absolutely everything, and whatever decision I make is the path I was destined to take.

Of course, not everyone believes what I do, but believing this has shown me a new side of the world. I don’t get as agitated when things don’t go my way because I know there’s an important reason for it. I may never find out the reason, but something better will eventually come along whether I notice it or not.

I believe in the path that I was given when I was born, I believe that my path was predestined my entire life, and I have never been more confident in and comfortable with the decisions I make.