It was always meant to happen that way

Recently, I read a book with this title. I was in bed, exhausted, AND still reading because I like to read before bed. (Hello, go to sleep!)  When I turned to page 25, the title was “It was always meant to happen that way.”

The premise, based on work from Byron Katie, is that all things from your past were meant to be. And how do you know this? Because it already happened. It was that way, and therefore it was supposed to be that way.

HUH? 

I was supposed to NOT get into my first choice of colleges? I was supposed to NOT get the exact job I wanted at graduation? It was supposed to take EIGHT LONG YEARS for my college sweetheart to propose, and THEN we got divorced? It was supposed to take FOUR tries (yes, four) to be promoted to full professor. WHAT?? (Insert Emoji of a head blowing up here.)

Truthfully, though, as I thought about so many situations from my life within the framework of “It was always meant to happen that way,” I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The universe was not, nor has it ever, conspired against me. There was never anything wrong with me. I am exactly where I am supposed to be and ready to move forward to the next place.

Bryon Katie also says (paraphrasing here) that before acceptance comes the battle with resistance.

But you know me, I’m a Sci-Fi girl all day long.

So, I say, “Resistance is futile.”  And of course, a colossal waste of time, because it all happened exactly how it was supposed to. And it happened FOR me, FOR my delight. 

What a relief!

“The only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is.” -Byron Katie