(When you read the Galahad novels, you often get a glimpse inside Triana's journal. But you really only see the entries that relate to the story at the time. Here, on the Galahad Blog, you'll get to see some of her more personal journal notes. And, you're invited to post your own comments to them, too.)
At lunch this week I heard someone say "everything happens for a reason." It made me stop and think...and I'm still thinking about it.
I struggle with this. On one hand, to say that everything happens for a reason is a powerful incentive to learn and grow. Take what happened with Comet Bhaktul; did that happen so that the 251 of us on the ship would have the chance to discover some hidden strengths within us? Did it happen to fulfill some kind of destiny? Did it happen to give our species a new beginning, which we maybe desperately needed?
On the other hand, I feel that to throw up my hands and say "everything happens for a reason" means I have no say in what happens to my life. Am I powerless to control my own destiny? Has it already all been written down somewhere, and I'm just playing out a scene that has already been decided? I don't like to think of my life that way. I'd like to think I have more control than that.
I'm still thinking about it, of course, but for now I don't think that things happen for a reason. I believe that things just happen, and how we react to them is what's most important. I don't think that things have been decided, that they are somehow predetermined. Tomorrow is a blank slate, and there are an infinite number of possibilities; how I respond to each one will ultimately alter the next one, and the next, and the next.
If it's not this way, then for what reason have I been blessed with intelligence and the ability to reason? I might as well just be a mindless assortment of atoms, pushed and pulled by destiny.
(Okay, Galahad fans, now it's your turn. What do you think about all of this? Do you share Triana's thoughts, or do you believe that things happen for a reason? Or do you think it's somewhere in between the two? This is a good chance for you to sit and think about things, and then share your opinions. Just click on the Comments button below and post your opinion.)
A few years ago astronomers discovered the first planet outside of our solar system (known as an extrasolar planet). Today, more than 300 have been found, and each year we catalogue more and more.
