K is for Karma

1. (in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.

    

In layman’s terms, “What goes around, comes around.” I’ve seen this happen and will admit there are times when it makes me smile.  I was driving between 2 cities on a major interstate one night last week.  All of sudden I was passed by a car, you know the kind of pass you feel cause they are going so fast. Naturally, my eyes followed the car as it weaved in and out of traffic. Seconds later it happened again. Another car, zooming down the highway, coming out of nowhere. Then I saw that it was a police car. Yep. Instant Karma.

Another way to look at this is; good things happen to good people. But if that’s the order of the universe, doesn’t it imply that bad things happen to bad people. This then gets turned around. If something bad happens, I must be bad. Parents facing divorce are quick to tell their children, “this has nothing to do with you.” If it doesn’t, why bring it up?

I’d prefer to think that life is just random. Loved ones die, babies are born, successes and failures happen and believe it or not, they happen to EVERYONE! We all experience the good and the bad. This doesn’t mean that we are ourselves good or bad.

When you hear of a child with a life threatening disease, do you jump to the conclusion that they were bad?  Like didn’t eat their vegetables or hit a sibling bad? Seriously, how bad can a kid get? And how do you explain the mean girl, you know the bully who shunned others, winning the homecoming crown? Or the co-worker who gets a promotion; the same one who played video games doubling your workload?

I just can’t wrap my mind it. Why am I being held responsible for my actions in a previous life? What if I was a lion? I had to kill to eat. What’s the payback for that?