Why me

In a beautiful garden filled with laughter and music, Mia sat quietly, watching a party unfolding around her. The sounds of joy felt distant as her thoughts drifted into the sky, where birds soared effortlessly, free and peaceful.

"Look at the birds of the air," she thought, recalling a passage from the Bible. "They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Then why am I suffering like this?" A deep sigh escaped her. "Why is it always me? Why am I always the one who ends up hurt, always the one who cares too much?"

Her heart was heavy, weighed down by the never-ending "why me." She looked at her hands and thought of all the times they'd reached out for someone else, only to be met with pain. Life, to her, seemed like an endless cycle of giving and hurting.

As she pondered these thoughts, a small voice interrupted her solitude. A young girl in a wheelchair had quietly rolled beside her, her eyes sparkling with curiosity and warmth. "Hi," the girl said, her smile soft but genuine.

Startled, Mia smiled back weakly. "Hi," she replied.

The girl gazed at the birds in the sky, just as Mia had been doing moments before. "Aren't they beautiful?" she asked.

"Yes," Mia said softly. "They are."

"They make life seem so simple, don’t they? Just flying without a care in the world."

Mia nodded but remained silent, her heart still tangled in the "why me" thoughts that had plagued her for so long.

The girl noticed the sadness in her eyes. "You know," she began, "I used to ask the same question—'Why me?' I wondered why I had to face so many challenges, why I couldn't run and play like the other kids. I even asked God, 'Why did this have to happen to me?'"

Mia looked at her, feeling a strange sense of connection. "And what did you find?"

The girl smiled again; her eyes full of wisdom beyond her years. "One day, I realized something. Everyone has their own problems. Everyone asks 'why me' at some point. But life isn’t about avoiding the hard times. It’s about learning from them. Instead of asking 'why me,' I started asking, 'Why not me?'"

Mia frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well," the girl continued, "some of us are just meant to take these long, winding journeys. We face hardships, we suffer, but in the end, we come back to ourselves. Stronger, wiser, and more compassionate. God gives us what we need, even if it doesn’t look like what we want. We all have our own paths. Yours may be hard, but it’s leading you somewhere important."

Mia felt a lump form in her throat. She looked at the girl’s wheelchair, then back at the birds. "But how do you stay so hopeful? How do you manage to find beauty in life despite everything?"

The girl’s smile grew wider. "Life is beautiful. Yes, I’m in a wheelchair, but I can still see the sky, I can still laugh, and I can still love. And you—" she paused, pointing at the woman’s legs—"you can walk, run, jump, and play. We all have something. Even in our suffering, there’s something good."

Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes. She thought about how often she had focused on her pain, how often she had asked 'why me' instead of seeing the beauty that still surrounded her. She wasn’t alone in her struggles—everyone had their own challenges.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice shaky.

The girl nodded. "It’s okay to feel sad sometimes. Some days are just bad days. But they’re not every day. And remember, you can always restore yourself. Sometimes, being alone isn’t about isolation—it’s about healing. God gives us those moments to reflect, to find peace within ourselves."

Mia smiled, feeling lighter than she had in a long time. She looked up at the sky once more, watching the birds fly with renewed wonder. Life wasn’t about finding herself—it was about creating herself, just as George Bernard Shaw had said. And maybe, just maybe, she was exactly where she needed to be.

"Why not me?" she whispered to herself, and for the first time, it felt like the beginning of something new.