Everything Happens For A Reason

Everything happens for a reason.

Stupid cliche. But I'm very prone to using it. So are many people.

What on earth does it mean exactly?

If a person just broke up, maybe her 5th break-up and then she meets a
wonderful man. And this time it works out (marriage, bawling babies,
clumsy MPV). So the reason the 5 break-ups happened was for this to happen?

If a person loses her job and has to make do with some home-made products to survive. And the business thrived, she eventually owns 3 factories, making a big bundle of money. The reason for her success is because she lost her job? Everything happens for a reason.

Say someone started blogging and wrote an awful piece on migrant workers. And he joins the diplomatic corps. Someone from a certain country reads his blog entry and lodge a protest. And it causes an international incident. And he loses his diplomatic passport. Hmmm.

If a person has a flat tyre and she gets down of her car to change the flat tyre, and a truck hit her. So the reason for the flat tyre to happen is so that she would die that way.

You miss a flight, and the flight you missed crashed. You miss a flight, and the next flight you caught crashed.

You didn't get the job you wanted, and you became more successful than you had ever imagined. You didn't get the job you wanted, and as expected, you end up with a bad career path.

Everything happens for a reason?

I know we should try to see silver linings in the dark clouds. I know the cliche is meant to give a semblance of hope. But false hope perhaps? I would like to believe there's hope though.