The universe acts a little like a monkey’s paw sometimes. Okay, no where near as bad as a monkey’s paw, definitely not, but still. The two do share some resemblance. You ask for something, and the universe (or God/Allah etc.) grants it to you, but not in the way you wanted or were intending, and sometimes it’s at an inconvenience to you. Unlike a monkey’s paw though, most of the time, the inconvenience ends up benefiting you in the long run. You just don’t know it at the time. At the time, you feel like life happens to you, not because of you.
I asked for motivation. At the time, I thought that meant that one day I would suddenly feel the drive that I need to achieve my dreams. Well apparently, the universe can’t make me feel emotions unwarranted. But it can put certain events into motion that pull the emotions I need out of me. Fair enough.