Is the deterioration and distress that occurred in the questioner's life related to her throwing a note containing Quranic verses and Prophetic Hadiths into the wastebasket, and what is the way to atone for this mistake?

God may punish a servant for their sins to make them repent, and withhold provision from them, as Allah Almighty says: "And whatever strikes you of disaster - it is because of what your hands have earned; and He pardons much." No one can definitively determine the cause of calamities, as that is part of the knowledge of the unseen. However, one must engage in sincere repentance, increase good deeds, and seek forgiveness. Placing the Quran or anything containing the mention of Allah in a trash can is forbidden and among the most serious matters.