There are times in life when we turn our eyes to Heaven and sight, scream
or cry, "Why me?"  We are in a time of crisis, nothing makes sense.  We
feel that the Universe has chosen us to be the victim of a cruel practical joke.

Do we really expect an answer?  Do we really think that a huge finger will
point down from the sky and a voice of thunder will say, "You are a bad
person and We don't like you, that's why!"?  It could happen, I guess,
but usually our question is met with silence.  If there is an answer,
it is left for us to find it.

If we feel that the Universe is a random thing, we might decide that there is
no answer.  Or, as a friend once said, "Why not you?"

If we suspect that life isn't random, that there is some mysterious kind of
cause-and-effect going on,  we might come up with our own set of superstitions -
a lucky shirt, an unlucky number.  Or we might try direct bargaining with
Fate - "I'll go to church every week, I'll give all my money to charity, if only..."  We offer these bargains sincerely, from the depths of our heart and we are answered with - silence.

The problem with asking the "Why me?" question is that it assumes that the
answer can come fromoutside of ourselves.  We ask the question, but since
the answer doesn't come in the way we expect, we don't hear it.  The answer comes from the silence, from exactly the place we avoid going.  We are really asking a Cosmic question - why should we not expect a Cosmic answer?

From the metaphysical standpoint we are entirely responsible for every event
in our lives.  Not only us, but everyone else is equally responsible for the
events in their lives.  Free will, that sort of thing.

If you don't pay your electric bill - for 3 months - one day you will find
yourself sitting in the dark.  If you ask the electric company, "Why me?", their answer will be short and snappy!  Their answers were coming every month -"Pay this bill or we will stop your service." ... "Final Notice!"

The Cosmic answers aren't so obvious.  They come from within.  A feeling,
an intuition, much easier to ignore than a pile of bills on your desk, but
just as demanding.  "Time to learn forgiveness, love, kindness."
"Time for a change."  "Your work here is done."  "Expand, grow, use your abilities and talents."  Such gentle reminders aren't they?  Until one day it seems they are turned over to the Cosmic Collection Agency.  They have a way of really getting your attention!

I believe that before we are born we choose the general outline of our lives.
We choose certain lessons and the best conditions in which to learn them.
We choose our parents, our friends - and our enemies!  We choose how and when we will die, we choose our life's work.  We choose all of these things to help ourselves learn and express Who we really are.  Then we choose to forget all of these choices as we enter into a physical body.

The Cosmic reminders are messages we have sent ahead of us, to help us pay
attention to the signposts and directions we have chosen.  Treat yourself gently as you encounter your lessons.  You designed them to help you grow, you meant them to help, not hurt - but you were also firmly determined to learn these lessons that you set for yourself.  It is our human reluctance and resistance to change and growth that creates the most pain - we also have the choice to learn our lessons gently -as we designed them to be learned.
The Silence is not our enemy - it is us.