CLICK! I don’t know why. It just made perfect sense.

Later on, I heard a physicist say at a lecture, “Either everything is predetermined, in which case there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it, or everything is random, in which case there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it.”

Felt good.

No, I didn’t lose the temp job because something better is coming along, but thanks for telling me that it’s “for the best” that I’m now jobless! I really, really appreciate it!

My favorite (more sarcasm) was reading a friend’s blog post once about how everything had to have happened just perfectly in order for her to meet her SO and it was just fate! Now, I think it’s great that the two of them met, I really do, but I don’t think it’s worth someone dying (which was on her list) or her having been in an abusive relationship (also on the list) or…I really REALLY wanted to reply to that post and ask if that person truly had to die just so she could meet him? How selfish of her…

Because the kind of thinking in the OP is backwards. Things didn’t happen to become what they are now; things became what they are now because things happened that led to now, and the things happening now will lead to other things. The past is not a series of means to an end, because the present is not an end.

I also like the Anthropic Principle: that the universe has all these amazing coincidences of physical constants that happen to be just right to create the universe we see…because if it didn’t, we wouldn’t be here to observe it. Some call that a cop-out, but there’s a kind of poetry to it that appeals to me. With regards to how everything amazingly came together to make you the person you are now, well yeah of course it did, because otherwise other things would have happened, and no matter what it was you’d still comfort yourself (if you had a hard life) or take pride in the fact (if you had a good life) that you wouldn’t be who you are if those things hadn’t happened.

So…I think I said that right…

My god is like the CIA. You know he’s there, because you don’t.

Every dog I have ever owned gave me a feeling as though it was ‘meant to be’…until I realized that, in fact, every dog I have ever owned gave me that meant to be feeling. Get my point? If everything that happens is ‘meant to be’ then what is the point of stating it?

I think in some situations it is easy to impose that thought. A dog, for example. When you own a dog, there is a uniqueness to it. It feels meant to be…especially if you rescued the dog. The truth is, dogs are so adaptable, and in need of human care, that they make us all feel like them being in our lives just had to be. But had you picked Dog B instead of Dog A…then Dog B would be the one that was ‘meant to be’.

Soon…when everything seems ‘meant to be’ you realize that it all cancels each other out, and it just is. Maybe a good arrangement…maybe one you value…maybe special to you and one you will always cherish…but it was not meant to be. It did not have to be though…and was not meant to be. It just is.

Another aspect of this is the ones that were not. You are walking out of the grocery store and see a box of kittens being given away. You are tempted, but choose not to. had you, that kitten would have been your friend…and surly meant to be. but wait…you didn;t get him…hmmm…it wasn;t meant to be? lol…no, it just was not. And had you made the choice to get it, you would ahve had a feeling as if it was meant to be.

It is really just our internal confirmation system letting us know a situation is good…and our superstitious side expressing it in terms that make us feel special about it.

PS…It’s a wonderful life was a movie…and it only explored the example in terms of what the story wanted to tell. If you were to make a careful scientific study of the situation you would realize that it was mularky. I will give one quick example: In the story an entire plane full of soldiers died because his brother was not alive to save them. Well…hehe…if he was not alive, the military would have had someone else doing whatever job he was…and so another would have been in the right place at the right time to save them…maybe. The movie was full of assinine assumptions…as if there were only two possible outcomes of him being there or not. As you can imagine, it is not so simple…and when you look at the way everything would have filled in around his non-existence, you see nothing is meant to be…it just is…and the movie, while terribly warm hearted and fun to watch (yes, I like the movie…but it is a movie, not life)…is in no way a serious commentary on the repurcussions of someone not being alive.

I sat on a stump for a while after that absorbing the enormity of it. Does it mean I don’t have the automatic comfort I used to? Sure, but I’d rather have the truth.

So the reason why you met your puppy is that you stopped for gas. I think there is nothing more to that. We could colloquially say you were lucky (whitout starting a discussion about Luck vs. Fate vs. Reason) but to me the reason why things happen is essentially cause-effect driven.

Arnold,
I understand your point. There is the logical part of me which says that’s all there is to it. But it is intriguing to me to think about what would have happened in so many instances if I had or had not done something. Kind of like “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Just because James Stewart didn’t marry Donna Reed doesn’t mean she turned into a bitter old woman, but I think you can see why it’s something to ponder.