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Why do bad things happen to good people?

15 Answers
Last Updated: 06/18/2018 at 12:17pm
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
Moderated by

Lindsay Scheinerman, MA, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor

My work with clients is to help them recognize and build on their strengths to find solutions for the conflicts presented in their lives.

Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
June 30th, 2015 1:40am
I never really understood the reason for bad things happening to good people. But now that I am a little bit older and a little bit wiser, I believe that it is all a test. I believe that we all go through bad things so that we become resilient and better people. Good people are more capable of overcoming bad things, whereas people who are not good at heart are likely to take their frustration and animosity off on other people (such as harming them). However, people who are good at heart are more likely to deal with the issues on their own, not wanting to involve others. I believe this to be true because as a young girl, someone did horrible things to me. Though I suffered from depression and at times thought of suicide, I never once thought about committing sin towards another human being. Remember that even if bad things happen to you, you will overcome them but those "bad people" will have someone to answer to on judgement day. So good people continue to live your life and be resilient for there will come a day when you no longer have to suffer.
amorvincitomnia143
April 24th, 2015 10:21pm
Why do you good things happen to bad people? Its the nature of the world, but we must focus more on the good in life that we experience in order to achieve the most happiness for ourselves in our lives. Live kindly.
DashS
March 6th, 2015 3:18am
Bad things happen to good people because we have to be tested, it's all a perception but if it wasn't a bad thing we wouldn't notice it nor would we question it. Since we do question it proves that we are strong in our beliefs.
PashT007
April 7th, 2015 7:53pm
In reality, nothing is ever bad because each and everything we go through allows us to grow and learn.
Anonymous
June 13th, 2015 1:58pm
Bad things happen to everyone, be it bad people or good people. So it's not that 'bad things happen to good people' but rather 'bad things tend to happen to those who deserve better'! We cannot always have rainbows and sunshine, there has to be some rain in our lives to make us humble and feel grateful about all the good that happens. And anyway, bad things are what make you grow and become a better individual, for you learn to deal with them, as well as you learn to know yourself on a deeper level.
Anonymous
June 18th, 2015 11:38am
I don't necessarily think that bad things happen to good people, or that good things happen to bad people. I just think that life happens, and sometimes there are things that happen in life that no one can predict, prevent, and/or do anything about.
Anonymous
August 17th, 2015 8:10pm
I think its a test from God himself to see if we can handle things in life, plus bad dosent stay for long
Anonymous
September 21st, 2015 5:16pm
Because then they are stronger. They are the ones that can learn things from experiences and help other people. :)
Anonymous
October 27th, 2015 12:48pm
Sadly that's the way society is. People tend to take advantage of good people, which in turn results in bad things, however bad things don't always happen to good people, you just have to keep your head up high and focus on the positives in life :)
brightDaisy37
November 9th, 2015 12:11pm
As a child, I used to be told "Bad things only happen to good people" and because of how circumstances were then, I would believe that and it used to make me feel good. Years later, I found myself at a very difficult spot - I started asking "Why me? Aren't there enough good people around?". I realized soon after, no one really had an answer to that. Asking "Why me" started making everything worse because it would make me look at things from the eyes of a victim. Yes, it's true - I have had difficult times in my life, but believing as if "bad" things were "happening" to me just messed with my thought process even more. I've started looking at things a bit differently now - I don't think bad things happen only to good people. Bad things happen to bad people too. I had to stop asking the question, "Why me" first and realise that there are so many of us out there who go through a lot of bad things. In fact, at a point, I questioned myself, "Wait.. why not me?" It can happen to anyone. I had to start connecting more with the right set of people, open and share more, learn from them,practice a lot of self-care, learn to ask for help if I needed and slowly figure out how to work my way around things that can go wrong. The most important thing I had to do was to start believing that good things can happen too! I still don't have an answer to why bad things even happen in the first place, but instead of focusing on trying to figure that out, I try to focus my energy onto trying to get myself out or work around difficult situations.
KevBer85
November 10th, 2015 7:37pm
There is no one keeping score of the bad things happening to good people and bad people getting good things happening to them. The problem is most of those good things that are being taken from good people end up in bad peoples hands because they took them, or cheated to get what they have. Some bad may even take a shortcut. I am a huge fan of Robin Hood he took from the rich and gave to the poor, maybe you can be that hero, maybe not literally, but find good things in your life that may be a blessing in disguise.
HelpfulHealings73
March 21st, 2017 2:26pm
Bad things happen to everyone both good and bad....It is a part of life unfortunately. It is how we handle it that will determine if we can learn from it.. Gather strength to move on from the bad times and look towards those better days,
Anonymous
June 3rd, 2015 11:15am
Bad things happen to everyone, its apart of life, and while sad, usually it is usually able to be overcome with some time.
SunlessSky
March 26th, 2018 12:44pm
Bad things happen to everyone - that's just life. We never know the entirety of someone's story. But look at it this way - if bad things didn't happen to us, we would never truly appreciate the good things. So to answer your question - they happen so that good people can get even better, by learning to appreciate the good despite the bad.
endearingLion70
June 18th, 2018 12:17pm
Bad things happen to everyone they fall on us like the rain. We just think that if we good there is a shield that protects us.