Does everything happen for a reason?

Well, that is a tough one. I do believe that the Universe conspires to create situations that test us and teach us what we need to learn at a particular time in our lives. Also it is uncanny but our conditioning and the way we react to circumstances could determine how long it takes us to get something and life often continues to provides us with similar situations time and time again till we finally "get it". On the other hand it is tough to justify that bad things happen for a reason but if we take the narcissim out of a situation it often comes to light that even bad things (especially bad things) teach us a lot once we are able to stop looking at the hurt or pain as a personal tragedy. This canbe taken to a much vaster scale and be applied to the world as a whole given the fact that we all possibly share some karma and have to collectively learn some lessons as a people. Thus I like to believe that each historical tragedy led to something good. I realize that I am treading on some unstable ground here but will venture to say that if viewed from a very impersonal and unbiased lens most of history is full of intense suffering of peoples that is followed by some thing positive that would not have come about if it hadnt been for the negativity that preceeded it. I like to believe that our current place in history will be another example of this. We shall crest the pinnacle of our current unconscious existence that will result in tumult but will be followed by (hopefully) a positive change in our collective perspective.