I’ve never been the type of person who can easily say that kindness can cure everything. I mean, I’m sure that it can, but I’ve never been that kind of person. To say the least, I am a realist. I think that opportunity is what you make it, and sometimes it takes turning something a few different ways to gain a new perspective.

I’m not completely cynical, and I know that at the end of the day, everything falls together as it should. However, sometimes it takes the most unattractive ways to fall into place. I am very detailed oriented, so I tend to look into things that others think are unnecessary. Some people can call this overthinking, but I call it planning ahead.

On the inside, I’m cautious, but my actions don’t always match this. But at the end of the day, I still look forward to that everything happens for a reason mantra. I’m humbled by Pinterest quotes reminding me to push through non-existent circumstances that remind me of times boys superficially broke my heart in high school and the mean girls from junior high who stayed home for school or dropped out, tweeting good vibes and keep going.

Maybe I was slightly dragging the latter for being mean to my friends when I was 12, but the point is still true: everything happens for a reason. In the style of my problematic inspiration, Carrie Bradshaw, does everything really happen for a reason?

I’m drabbling I’m sure, but I actually really do find it compelling that everything has a purpose. Maybe I’m also kind of a butterfly effect type person who believes that the wings of a butterfly can trigger a hurricane. This was probably why my old English teacher’s commencement speech resonated with me at graduation.

There are two ways to look at a situation: you can either dwell in it, or you can learn from it. There’s a lesson in everything --even if you find it within yourself. Circumstances are hard to change, but what you do with what you are given, is endless.

There are a lot of bad things that happen out in our world --a lot of bad people, too-- and we don’t always get a reason behind those things. There are too many unanswerable questions out there, and it’s not our job to answer them. But it is our job to understand and understand that, somewhere within the details, everything really does happen for a reason.