Jennifer Lopez Says She Believes "Hardships" Happen "for a Reason" Amid Her Divorce from Ben Affleck

“There are no coincidences," Lopez said. "This is not happening, you know, just randomly."

Jennifer Lopez wears a green cropped turtleneck sweater and jeans out in New York City.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Going through a breakup is never easy, and Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have had to deal with intense public scrutiny on top of everything else that's difficult about the situation as they navigate their divorce. So how do they cope? Well, while she didn't mention her divorce or Affleck directly, Lopez did give fans some insight into how she might be processing things in her new interview with British Vogue .

In the on-camera interview, Lopez opened up about how she copes when it comes to overcoming the biggest hardships life throws at her (and, spoiler alert, her strategies sound really healthy—we're talking therapist-approved levels of emotional maturity).

“I think the way I overcome things is not by thinking of them as happening to me, but happening for me and what is the lesson that needs to be learned in the moment,” she explained in the interview, promoting her new movie Unstoppable.

Jennifer Lopez & ‘Unstoppable’ Mum Judy Robles Interview Each Other - YouTube Jennifer Lopez & ‘Unstoppable’ Mum Judy Robles Interview Each Other - YouTube
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Looking for the lesson is an approach Lopez says has served her well, since it helps her reframe difficult moments in a more positive light.

“When I think of things that way and stay in a kind of a more positive mindset about it, it’s easier to kind of embrace it for the lesson that it is," she explained. “Because that’s really what our hardships are in life. What am I supposed to learn here?”

Before wrapping up her thoughts on the topic, Lopez made it clear she thinks hardships have specific and important meaning for us, making a point to add that she doesn't think the difficulties we all face in life are random—at all.

“There are no coincidences," she said. "This is not happening, you know, just randomly. It’s happening for a reason.”

And, just in case you need a little mantra to get yourself through the tough times using the Jennifer Lopez Method (™ pending, we can only hope), she has you covered there, too.

To wrap up the outline of what could be a brilliant future TED Talk on overcoming hardship, Lopez left the audience with a question she asks herself in those moments: "What can I learn and how can I come out the other side better, stronger, more knowledgeable and kind of evolve and grow from this point?”

Seriously, can someone please books the dates for a speaking tour for this woman, ASAP, because I think Jennifer Lopez might be the motivational speaker our country needs (even if she's not the one we deserve).

Contributing Editor at Marie Claire

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.