Do you believe everything happens for a reason?

[Tarkus]

I think "for a reason" has at least two interpretations:

• Every event is caused physically by a previous one
• Every event happens so we learn from it's (alleged) meaning

OP is referring to the second one from what I understand, which is wishful thinking IMO.

Life's hard and it may be comforting to believe such things (same with religion) but there's no evidence at all of "meaning" behind random events.

That's not to say that we can't learn from things that happen to us and even (in some circumstances) make us happier than before.

There are helpful tools to deal with life's situations such as stoicism or even maybe zen philosophy (not to be confused with buddhism).

Also science and technology are very important for navigating through the hardships of our existence.

 

[Knower of nothing]

Reason as intent? Absolutely not.
Reason as a describable process for why something came to be? I sure hope so, but it's not looking like it.