Welcome to a profound exploration of the adage, "Everything happens for a reason". Slide onto a barstool and join me as we navigate through a myriad of perspectives on this sage-like saying. From the comfort it provides to the debates it sparks, we'll examine its impact on people's lives, including my own journey as a bartender. We'll peek into the minds of celebrities and their interpretations, and explore its implications in the parenting world too.
Yet, it's not all about acceptance. For some, this phrase feels dismissive of genuine pain and suffering. We'll grapple with these critical views, providing you an all-rounded understanding of this divisive statement. So, pour your drink and join us as we ask - what does "Everything happens for a reason" mean to you? Forget about the typical podcast debates, we're here to create a space for reflection, discussion and understanding. Let's embark on this thought-provoking journey together!
Welcome to a profound exploration of the adage, "Everything happens for a reason". Slide onto a barstool and join me as we navigate through a myriad of perspectives on this sage-like saying. From the comfort it provides to the debates it sparks, we'll examine its impact on people's lives, including my own journey as a bartender. We'll peek into the minds of celebrities and their interpretations, and explore its implications in the parenting world too.
Yet, it's not all about acceptance. For some, this phrase feels dismissive of genuine pain and suffering. We'll grapple with these critical views, providing you an all-rounded understanding of this divisive statement. So, pour your drink and join us as we ask - what does "Everything happens for a reason" mean to you? Forget about the typical podcast debates, we're here to create a space for reflection, discussion and understanding. Let's embark on this thought-provoking journey together!
Hey, welcome to the bartender perspective. I'm so happy to have you here. Work is done for the day. Pull up a chair, have a seat, pour your drink and let's get started.
Speaker 1:
Tonight's podcast is about a statement that seems simple enough, yet at the same time, a controversial statement that I have heard many times over the years. We're talking about everything happens for a reason. It has been used in so many contexts. I hear this statement get thrown around the bar a lot after a few drinks, like a lot. It's a statement that can offer comfort. It's provoked frustration and my personal favorite sparks profound philosophical debates.
Speaker 1:
So tonight I'm going to cover some different perspectives. You know about this from a few quotes from some fabulous celebrities, a story of my own that I claim from this statement and some of the more skeptical and or critical views of this statement. I mean even going to mention a scripture to begin to offer one side of a potential meaning behind the statement. So from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, chapter seven, verse 14, in the day of prosperity, be happy, but in the day of adversity consider. God has made the one as well as the other, so that a man will not discover anything that will be after him. So what does this mean? I mean, this is a really deep scripture. So I have a regular. She comes in often to have a drink. She has six kids and always ranching on her about her children. We were talking about parenting one day and how she let her children learn by action and maybe think about this scripture. And she has a family of all boys and what are all boys famous for rough housing. She'll warn them, you know, not to play rough, but she won't stop them and of course they don't listen. And the next thing, you know, there is a blood curdling scream from the next room to summon, bang their knee. Or they thought it would be a good idea to hit a ball off one brother's head with a small pee wee bat. Yes, this really happened y'all. So in that child's mind, life as they know it seems over, at least until the next time. So, but my point is this so in this instance, what could be the reasoning for why this happened To those children? It was fun and exciting to rough house and yet it was a bad choice. When they look back on it, in any event, she's a great mom, y'all. You know they're. They're a great family. So I have a perspective of my own from this statement. You know, this particular perspective comes from my life as a bartender. You know. I know previously I talked about you know, the belief and believing in what you do. So this week I want to talk about I don't know where it pertains to everything has a reason.
Speaker 1:
So when I graduated from college and I moved, you know my first job is actually with, you know, the same restaurant that I'm working in now. I've been in and out of bars and restaurants. Between them, you know I worked in a bar that had, you know, I had to learn liquor knowledge, whiskeys and vodka and tequila, and you know drinks and this particular one. This is where I learned from a lot of the greats. I had one bartender. I watched him literally make a drink. He would pull three liquor bottles at the same time in one hand, turn them up to make his drinks. Yeah, he taught me a lot, you know, and I worked in a place at one point that had almost nothing but beers. So you know, in places like that you just really got to learn everything. There's no about beer. You know, I worked in a coffee house for a stint. I know that's not necessarily bars and restaurants, but the coffee knowledge I picked up, you know. Later I would apply that to still the world of beer. And then one of my last stops before I came back to, you know, the job I have now, was a tequila bar and, yeah, I had to learn everything there was to know about tequila.
Speaker 1:
But what I claimed from this whole thing as far as my perspective, you know, and everything that happens the way, it happens for a reason. So, yeah, I could have stayed, you know where I am now. But the reason that all of that happened, you know, was so I could pick up my liquor knowledge, so that I could pick up my beer knowledge, so I could, you know, coffee, tequila, et cetera. All of that to prepare me for what I do today and what I do now. I mean, really, in many instances I mean really in many instances All of that happened for a reason, you know, because it all leads up to, you know, this podcast that I started. You know it's results of all the people I've met over the years To all of you, my listeners, you know both the ones that know me and the ones that don't and all of you know the wonderful acquaintances and Friends that I've made over the years. So, yeah, everything happens the way it happens for a reason, and you know for me and that's why that happened, and I'm glad.
Speaker 1:
So here's what a couple of famous people had to say about this statement. Eventually, all things fall into place, until then, laugh at the confusion, live for the moments and know everything happens for a reason, and Albert Schweitzer said this Deeply prolific. I Believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go Things go wrong, so that you can appreciate them when they're right. You believe lies, so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. And sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together. Marilyn Monroe, you know, and that's so true in so many levels. You know, it's kind of like the podcast that I did on open, closed or opportunities, where you know one door closes, another opens, and it's it's reminiscent of that along. You know the same lines, if you will. Hmm, there will always be a reason why you meet people If you need them to change your life, or you're the one that will change theirs. Angela Flonis, here, if I like this one Especially, you know, because one of the things that gets me out of bed and to work Is I get the opportunity to change lives every day and then, in many instances, you know, people change my life as well. So, yeah, I like that. I Trust that everything happens for a reason, even if we are not wise enough to see it. Oprah win, oprah Winfrey, the Variety musicians out there, someday everything will make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, be strong and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason. John Mayer, wow, no, I like that one.
Speaker 1:
But while all of this is deeply profound than a positive light, you know we've also got to talk about, you know, the more skeptical, critical side of this statement. You know in daily life. So it is Seeing that skeptical and critical by a lot of people. You know some argue that it can be dismissive of genuine pain and suffering. And a real-life example you know this could be like when someone experiencing a tragic loss or an illness Is told that they're suffering as part of a greater plan or is meant to teach them a valuable lesson. You know like, for instance, the person has lost a loved one in a tragic accident. You know one thing you might do you know a supportive and empathetic you know approach. I'm so sorry for your loss. I Can't imagine how difficult this must be for you. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here. And then the one that you know. I want to put emphasis on the dismissive response Based on this. You know this statement. Perhaps this tragedy is meant to make you stronger and you'll find a deeper purpose through this experience. You know something, that second response.
Speaker 1:
It could come across to a lot of people as insensitive, because it applies that the pain and loss are somehow justified or necessary for personal growth, which for some can be hurtful to someone who is grieving. It just can be construed that an individual, despite having the best intentions, ends up dismissing those people, dismissing their genuine suffering and emotions, and nobody wants to feel that way, nobody. Sometimes in our society today, this statement is used purely as a crutch or a cop-out to something that happened in their life, to avoid responsibility for what is, for some, the notion of there being a reason for every loss and failure, something people will not accept as a way to avoid responsibility of making their hard choices about how they choose to live their lives. In many cases, these same people of weather tragedy and pain that would make most people cringe to even think about. To many people, the idea of there being a reason for everything it's almost to the point of absurd. It's not that reason is removed from our lives completely, or that it should be, but that it's used as a way out of avoiding growth and often look for comfort in this statement by giving validity to events that often seem to be without any possible reason and at this point of view, for some makes them uncomfortable and also selfish.
Speaker 1:
To believe that the only purpose of life's ups and downs and different events is there to teach us some pre-ordained lesson. It's the same sort of thinking that people buy into when they accept the success as just about being at the right place at the right time. You're comparing yourself and your life that could have been the same as the other successful person If only you'd been given the same break, yet complaining that everyone else's life except yours is getting that break. The sole authority for success is on you, and so is the duty for creating meaning out of life's biggest disappointments. From this context, it was about making the meaning you know forget, trying to find a reason, while we should own up to mistakes, we've made that account for a failure.
Speaker 1:
Oftentimes, there is simply no good reason why something bad has happened and you should, nor should you know. You accept that there is, but when terrible things happen to us, it's not only us that it affects. Saying that the reason this happened was to help us as a convenient and greedy excuse to remove ourselves of responsibility and to ignore the pain that these same circumstances have caused to others. You know so. Don't try and own up to events or their reasons. You know what matters is what you do with them. If you obsess, you know, over and over, and looking for a reason to somehow make itself known to you, take what happened to you and to the others who were affected by it, and creating something that is worthwhile, something which you will look back on with. You know, a pride of knowing that you weren't following a script, but instead writing and recording it yourself, like a director. Whether it's a job loss, a loss in the stock market or you had a roadblock in your life, the same lesson applies we don't own events or their reasons. It's what we do with them.
Speaker 1:
Make no mistake, however creating meaning is hard. It takes more effort than accepting some unforeseen reason that you have no control over. It means moving from being a victim of your circumstances to the architect of your future, chipping away hopelessness and trauma and turning into hope and molding failure into success. Ultimately, it means looking back in appreciation. Don't focus on past events that have happened to you, the bad ones especially, but instead take this as a learning experience to define a path forward that you might have missed otherwise.
Speaker 1:
So does everything really happen for a reason? In the grand tapestry of life, the notion that everything happens for a reason is a profound and enduring statement. Whether you find comfort in the statement or approach it with skepticism, one thing I hope for all of you, my listeners, is that this statement will spark contemplation and reflection. I leave you with this question what does this statement mean to you in your life right now? Definitely a food for thought, just saying. But in closing we're wrapping it up. If you liked my podcast, please feel free to tell at least three people about my podcast If you think they'll get something out of it. This will help me continue to get my message out there to more people. But unless you went, another drink, as always. Thank you for stopping in. Here's your check. My regular podcast hours are, as always, every Sunday night at 7 pm, so you can come back and see me then. Have a great night.