What did I do to deserve this?

Sometimes the life of our dreams includes things and events we don't like at all, and we wonder why.  We wonder if we have done something wrong.  One of the tenents of Buddhism is that every day things happen that we don't like - it's the human condition and everyone experiences this - even in the life of our dreams.  Examples:  missed planes, traffic jams, getting sick, not getting a raise - the list could be very long.  We act surprised because we are surprised.  Somehow we got the idea that everything is supposed to go smoothly so we are upset.  This is what causes our suffering - being surprised.  What if instead we responded to these things as though the universe was giving us an opportunity to learn something.  What if we thought to ourselves:  "Well, since everything is going wrong, the universe must be telling me it's time for me to take a break and rest."  Hmmm.  There might be innumerable ways we could respond that would be beneficial instead of being upset.