What is going on, here on Earth?

[Billy]

Is it really a fair choice though if it is coming from a place of confusion, misunderstanding and ignorance?  Wouldn't the loving thing to do be to educate and provide knowledge and clarity and then ask which choice wants to be made, like we do with our children?  I don't know, I've just never really been able to get behind the idea that everything someone experiences in their life is a result of their own choice, regardless of how well informed or not that choice was.  It just seems unfair and doesn't sit well with me, but maybe that is my problem and lack of acceptance.      

The best example I can think of here is that of a child and red-hot objects.  It's practically a rite of passage that a young child WILL, at some point, stick their finger on something really hot and thus learn why hot things should be avoided.  It doesn't really matter how many times a mother might slap their hand away from the stove.  The child still does it at some point, because it's a lesson that simply cannot be conveyed second-hand.

No one can know how much it sucks to be burned, until they get burnt.  It must become known through direct experience.

But as far as "fairness" goes, that's not really part of the picture when it comes to free will.  That which befalls you is the direct result of your choices, because there is no other party that can be blamed.  Well, except possibly God, but you'd have to take that up with the Creator yourself.    

That's the basics of karma in action.  We create our own destinies.  Our free will -regardless of how informed or uninformed- creates the next opportunities which present themselves to us.  The path of wisdom is that of striving to make wiser choices and thus attempt to more deliberately influence one's future path.   To "harness" karma, one might say, to work with it rather than against it.  Then one can start crafting their own destiny.  But, again, this is something that can only be learned directly.

Besides, to a certain extent, karma is as ruthlessly fair as they come.  No one gets special treatment.

'Unfortunately' most lessons are much more subtle than putting your hand on the proverbial stove and require (well, for me anyways) burning yourself time and time again before you even begin to suspect what the lesson is and what the truth of the matter is. I understand that those lessons which are hardest to learn are the most fruitful and provide us with the most growth but bleh. Confusion and stumbling around in the dark are tiring, I've had enough for one life time.