Unveiling Karma

“Look to be treated by others as you have treated others.” ~Publius Syrus

I heard an interesting story, yesterday, which made me think of Karma. A lady I know was telling me about two of her neighbors and the feud that has been taking place between them.

The neighbors were angry because of some issues in their subdivision; when one of the two heard about the other neighbor being seriously injured after falling from her horse, she laughed it off and claimed that the other lady only got what she deserved. It wasn’t even two weeks after that, when the son of the bitter neighbor got in a car wreck, and sustained the same injuries as the lady who fell off the horse. As she was relating the incident to me, my friend simply blurted out: “Karma never fails”.

Karma is a word that in the past few years has been abused more than used. So, what exactly is Karma?

We all have heard stories which reflect the old saying “What goes around comes around”, but why does it? Is there a force behind it all that keeps score, or do we do so ourselves?

Karma is the scorekeeper of or own soul. In negative instances, it would be accurate to say that Karma is soul guilt.

Whenever we do something good - or something wrong - our conscious mind notes the action, and sends a message to our subconscious mind, the part of ourselves which links to the Universal mind of creation. If the message is positive, the subconscious mind holds on to it for a while, then triggers behaviors that will enable our achievement of good things. If we subconsciously feel we are worthy of receiving the blessings Universe has to offer, we will open our door to them.

Similarly, if the message sent to the subconscious is a negative one, the stored triggers enable behaviors that will cause us to fail and get what we feel is our just deserved.

Of course, none of these processes take place on a conscious level. When we feel we have been wronged, and react according to the suggestions of our ego - or when we do something which is not for the greater good - we might believe we are right and justified, but our soul knows differently and keeps note.

The goal of our soul-body is to grow and conquer those blocks that need to be removed before enlightenment can be possible. Although an act of revenge or greed is justified in “earthly” terms, it is never accepted by our soul. That is what Jesus himself meant when he suggested turning the other cheek after being slapped.

Life is but a mirror of our inner world. By changing the way we respond to people and events, we change our future, for that is the nature of Karma.

The Power of Choice

“Happiness is not a matter of events, it depends upon the tides of the mind.” ~ Alice Meynell

When I was a little girl, my grandmother used to take me to ride my bike at a park near my house. One day, I fell and scraped both knees. After helping me get up, and brushing off the dirt of my bloody legs, my grandmother smiled and said: “Well, aren’t you the lucky one?” I looked at her in disbelief…here I was, one scratch away from needing stitches, and the woman was telling me I was lucky! Could she be mentally ill? Even at that young age, I remember wondering if she was going mad.

Noticing my confused frown, she explained: “Look at it this way, young lady, you could have fallen and busted your head instead. I think you were pretty lucky.” Although I still had a few doubts about her sanity, those words appealed to my young mind. She was right after all – no matter how desperate the situation seemed at the moment, it could have been worse.

From that day on, my glass was most always half full. Yes, bad stuff continued to happen on occasion, but was it the absolute worst it could be? That newfound attitude saved me a lot of heartache while going through the teen years, and it truly helped me see that events are only as bad as we paint them in our minds.

To this day, every morning, I pray for one thing: to keep my inner balance alive, and see every obstacle as an opportunity. It doesn’t matter what kind of day I’ve had – at the end of it, I always feel it was a day worth living. True power is not in dominating events unfolding around us, but rather is the ability of not allowing those events to affect our core of emotions.

One of the best tricks to balance the scale is to focus our attention on a happy memory. For me, as an example, thinking of the when my younger son caught a big fish on his first fishing trip really does wonders. He was so happy! That image will forever be forged in my mind. If I think of that, and really try to concentrate on the intensity of the feeling and the brightness of his smile, I can immediately feel tension melt away. Once I have a grip on my emotions again, I continue to focus on positive thoughts, and my day magically shifts.

Hanging on to resentment or negative thoughts feeds our illusion of needing to remain angry in order to punctuate the magnitude of the event, but it is really not necessary. Dangling on the brink of a precipice has never helped anyone find solutions.

We feel inclined to change the décor of our environment if the style no longer suits us, or makes us feel uncomfortable. We remove an object and replace it with one we like more – why not do the same with our thoughts?

Reaching for the Moon

“Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.” ~ Louisa May Alcott

When I was a young girl, my family and I lived in a high-rise apartment building in the heart of the city. I loved sitting on the balcony at night, when the noise from the street had finally quieted down and the horizon came to life as a parade of lights. I especially loved to sit out there when the moon was full, since I find very few things to be as impressive and mystical as the jolly, tangerine-hued face of the moon peeking through the buildings. One night, it looked so big that I distinctly remember thinking I could touch it if I just reached far enough.

Although touching the moon was not an option, I still enjoyed the feeling of peace and the pale light which seemed to enshroud everything in a silvery cloak of dreams and magic.

Not everyone dreams of touching the moon, but most of us set goals for ourselves. Some of the goals are little more than a speck of hope in the far distance, while some others are immediate plans we set out to achieve in our daily lives. Regardless of how practical, unthinkable, big or small our goals are, they can be achieved. If someone has reached them before us, it only means that a door must exist to get there. It may not be the first one we knock on, or even the second or third ones, but a path to our dreams certainly exists, if we are willing to put in the footwork to find it.

I remember having this conversation with my son, one night, while he was telling me about his passion for drumming. He felt that becoming a professional drummer is an impossible dream and he should focus on something more “concrete”. Given that he was raised by me, I was speechless…impossible? Nothing is impossible. The road might be rocky, and the journey a rough one, but if one has a clear destination in mind, going from point A to point B can definitely be in the cards.

Sticking with a personal goal is simpler than most think, as long as we realize that initial failure is nothing more than a stepping stone toward future success. An old proverb even states that we should fall seven times and get up eight.

Short-term goals are probably the hardest ones to keep up with, as what motivates us to achieve them rarely originates in the fire of an individual’s inner passion; our resolve can easily deflate and we lose our momentum. By setting small goals and working toward them, we raise our inner bar of self-discipline, and through the joy of humble victories along the way we train for the marathon of touching the moon.

We don’t need to set our goals into the future – today is as good a day as any to get motivated, set goals, and begin to make changes, even if small ones. After all, all great runners started once by learning how to put one foot in front of the other. Time and persistence did the rest.