For such a small word, why carries an enormous amount of weight. It has no real meaning by itself, but as part of a sentence, it can be pretty powerful.  Why is that?  Ha! Why do we do things a certain way?  Why is the world round?  Why do people suffer?  Why do we die?  Why can’t we live forever?  Why do we get sick?  Why do we get old?

Why do we ask so many questions? It can be used to express understanding: “I know why he did it” or not “Why not?” And sometimes the answer doesn’t need to make sense, why? “because”

Merriam-Webster’s definition is:  1: the cause, reason, or purpose for which – know why you did it – that is why you did it. 2: for which:  on account of which – know the reason why you did it (I’ve read this several times and it doesn’t make any sense … sorry

It strikes conversations.  It inspires debates.  It pushes for truth.  It questions our own way of being. Why? But what I find even more compelling at times are the answers this one little word elicits.

Why did you do it?  For love.  Why are we here? To learn.  Why do we hurt?  To understand pain.  Why did you move?  Because I could.  That’s my favorite. Why? Well … Here’s how that story goes …

We recently moved.  Yes. Left the infernal heat of the desert in Arizona for a patch of land on an island in the Pacific North West.  Sounds pretty fantastical, doesn’t it?  It was a big move on many levels.  Scary to some extent by leaving everything that had become familiar to me over the past six years.  I was comfortable to say the least but I really wanted out of the desert.  I wanted out of the heat.  We wanted out.

The stuff you read about in books like The Secret, Think and Grow Rich, or The Power of The Subconscious Mind, (just to name a few) really do have some truth to them.  We set our minds to knowing what we wanted.  We didn’t know how it was going to show up.  We just kept focusing on moving and in our hearts really did not want to stay in AZ any longer.  We looked at homes in California and in Arizona but it just didn’t feel right.

Time was of the essence as my home was sold and the close was approaching. We used Zillow quite a bit but always wondered if the homes had been staged to a point where they just didn’t represent reality.  And then one day, there it was.  A home on an island in the PNW.  To make a long story short, there were obstacles that we needed to overcome.  I truly believed that if it was going to happen, then these obstacles would just disappear and we would end up with the home we wanted, where we wanted.  In a matter of days, everything fell into place.  Why?  (there it is again) because I/we believed.

So when I am asked “why did you move” I love saying, “because I could.”  Most people don’t understand that.  But think about it. Having the freedom to pick up and set roots in a new land, and explore something completely new and untested … wow.  That’s living.  That’s freedom.  Yes, we are blessed in so many ways.  God has been kind and yes, miracles do happen.

I look forward to tomorrow, why?  Because … because the adventure is just beginning.