Catch phrase

I love words. I love learning new words, discovering the history behind words, thinking up new words....So as you can imagine, I analyze words, phrases, colloquialisms, etc.. Lately, I have heard the phrase,"Everything happens for a reason," many times. And as much as I dislike that saying, it pales in comparison to my dislike of the phrase, "Whatever happens, happens." I realize it's just a saying, and I often find myself inadvertently saying it too. But what about personal responsibility, and reaping what you sow? I think things rarely ever, "just happen." Events occur because someone made an action that set other actions into place. I do agree that, "God is in control." But what I take from that is that he is ultimately and divinely in control. We still have to make mistakes and learn from our experiences. I don't know that God makes things happen, I think he just allows them to happen, the decision is and was still ours. I see many people in my life who are content to let the four winds blow them to kingdom come. They never dig down and establish roots because, "Whatever happens, happens." If something is not going right in your life it is likely because at some point you made poor choices. YOU did that, no one else (senseless acts of violence excluded). But what I LOVE about this logic, is hope is never lost from Pandora's box! If you got yourself there, you can work your way at of the mire one sluggish step at a time, no shortcuts, no BS. And in the end if you never fully recover in mans' eyes, it's of no consequence. God rewards the struggle and the effort.