Do You Believe Everything Happens for a Reason?

To a certain extent I do. I guess you could call it fate, in the sense I believe some things are pre-determined. Like, I trust my instincts and believe in my unique abilities as an Individual; I believe I have a gift and the purpose of my life is to gain satisfaction from this; and I gain strength from my experiences in life, whether good or bad. I believe in the “self” as an excuse for people not to accept the conformity of their everyday lives; but as a belief to challenge their own existence, and society around them.

However, the thing that I’ve never understood is illness; this is a fate which opposes our own existence. It’s nearly 4 years since I lost my Mother to cancer. Up until that point I guess you could say she did everything society demanded of her: she went to the gym twice a week, ate all the “right” foods, worked a 9-5 job, was happily married, and raised 4 kids. She suffered from a stroke when I was currently living away in Leeds, and gradually her health got worse and worse very quickly over a 3 month period.

To this day, I never understood that. You could argue that the experience of losing my Mother made me stronger as Individual. Yes, it did, but what about her? What about her destiny? She had no choice to challenge her diagnosis; she was left helpless and weak, and unable to do anything against it. Some people say death is necessary to make way for the new born. Yes, this is true, but death is not always fair. Who decides what is fair? God? Was it “God’s Will” that my Mother should die from illness at that point? If people have this idea and belief of a “God” controlling our lives for the better then does the same account for the innocent people that have lost their lives because it was “God’s will”?

I’m still searching for answers.