I am a firm believer in things happening for specific reasons. We may not know exactly why things happen, even later in life, but I think that somehow, everything that we do is meant to be.

You may ask why I believe this way. Well, I can’t really put my finger on one particular thing that has convinced me that Fate actually exists. But sometimes, when I look back on life and the things that have happened to me, I realize that there is this subtle pattern that emerges.

My philosophy is to not worry about anything, because I know that things will work themselves out in the end. Such as when my husband lost his job and I wasn’t working. We were renting a house and had a baby. So we ended up moving back to my parents house, to the town we had wanted to move back to anyway. And we were able to save some money when we did get jobs so that we could move out to a nicer apartment than the previous two we had inhabited.

That’s not to say that I wanted to go back to work after having our daughter, but it’s something I had to do. I guess it gives me something to do during the day rather than doing dishes and laundry. And I get to buy clothes to wear outside the house (rather than puttering around in pajamas.)

See what I mean? Sometimes I look at the way things happen, and often it doesn’t work out in my favor, right away. But eventually, if I wait it out, there’s something down the line that is exactly the outcome I need at the right time.

You can apply this idea to the pursuit of happiness, if you will. When I was in college, I kept going after guys, thinking I would be happy if only I could get someome to like me. Eventually, I gave up on that and just decided to forget about dating and focus on school. I had great friends and a great job during the summer at Bartlett’s Farm.

And then, right out of nowhere, my future husband just happens to call and we end up going on a few dates, and by the next year, we are engaged. We had known each other in high school, and his dad was my fourth grade teacher. My mom used to joke all the time that we should have hooked up, except he always had a girlfriend.

It was the strangest thing to happen, but it was the one thing I needed. And I didn’t go looking for it. It just happened.

Sometimes, when you just stop trying to pursue happiness, or wealth, or whatever, it may just pursue you in the end. You could get the very thing you had wanted, without realizing it. It just takes a little patience, solitude and a realization that you may not get what you want, but you are happy just as you are.

It could be just like that new television program “My Name is Earl.” Karma could be a major force in life, rewarding you when you do good things. (Quite a funny show, if I may say so. Jason Lee is awesome.)

Look at your life and try to find your own pattern. What things have happened to you, good and bad? Can you see how certain things were meant to be, after the fact? Is there a rhythm in how you do things? You may realize more things about yourself than you know.