Heat of Why Does Reaction Proceed Anyway?

[brake4country]

Homework Statement

When solid potassium chloride is dissolved in water, the energies of the bonds formed are lower than the energies of the bonds broken. Why does the reaction proceed anyway?
(A) Undissolved potassium chloride compensates for the portion that dissolves
(B) The reaction does not take place under standard conditions
(C) The electronegativity of the water is increased by the interaction with potassium and chloride ions.
(D) The increased disorder due to the mixing results in an increased entropy of the system.

Homework Equations

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The Attempt at a Solution

I solved this problem by process of elimination, but I must wonder: if the energies of the bonds formed are lower in energy, doesn't this imply that the products are more stable? Wouldn't it also imply that if this reaction were plotted as a bell-shaped curve, that it would resemble that of an exothermic reaction?

 

[Bystander]

"Stable?" Double and triple thinking things does not lead to increased understanding. Heat of fusion is it.

 

[brake4country]

The reason I ask is because the solution states "if the bonds formed have lower energy than the bonds broken, the reaction is endothermic". I thought that lower energy would result in an exothermic process. What am I missing here?