I read what I thought was an excellent comment yesterday by one of my favorite authors which brought to mind my thoughts about cliches and the use of them.  The article, itself, didn't have anything to do with cliches, but the comment starting my thinking about them again.  My interpretation of the comment indicated that we justify things by saying certain things that help us get through the rough times. 

Say you lose your job (get fired) you might feel badly and then fantasize or soothe yourself by saying things like 'I didn't like the job anyways' or 'one door closes and another opens' or whatever you need to get through the stressful situation.

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It makes sense to me that religion helps with stress as well. You're afraid of dying, you convince yourself that you have eternal life.

You feel stressful guilt; don't worry, Jesus died for your sins and all you have to do is believe in him.

Don't know how to deal with a moral dilemma; simply try to find something in your Bible to help you along

This viner was basically talking about justifying your actions or to make you feel better, but what about when someone else uses them in an attempt to soothe you?  Do you find them soothing?  The past few years I've found many of them to do the exact opposite.  I've also found them used as a way to distort reality.

My least favorite cliché is "Everything Happens for a Reason".  I know the people who say these things to you have good intentions, but sometimes, I just don't get it.  Goodness gracious.  I can't for the life of me figure out what are the reasons some things happen. 

For example....

1. the senseless murder of those children at Sandy Hook 
2. the disfiguration of women
3. the discrimination and brutality towards gays because of their love for a person of the same sex
4. the ongoing discrimination of the NA in the US just because they are Native Americans. 

These examples are more general than personal in nature, but they are examples of things I find just cannot fit in with the cliché.

On a more personal nature....

1. Someone steals your car
2. You have been a victim of rape or some other kind of brutality or life threatening situation
3. You lose your job and are forced to live on the streets because of it
4. Children are learning the hard lessons of life before they've even had a chance to enjoy some of the good things

Anyway, what are your thoughts about clichés when someone else says one to you?  Do you find them soothing?  I guess for me being the hypocritical self that I am at times and depending what things are happening in my life, it would determine whether they are soothing or not.