Getting Your Karmic Just Desserts

Ever Feel Like That?

Spirituality or a belief that virtue is rewarded and sin creates suffering eventually leads to a belief in Karma.

I often hear myself saying, "well, he/she's racking up some really bad karma..." And so on. I've even caught myself saying, "I guess I had that coming, karma or something."

Lately, I've felt that maybe I was getting a little karmic payback or something, I do realize that might be an irrational thought. You see, things were just going too darn good for us, we bought the house, hubby got a $6.00/hour raise over the period of a month, I've been doing quite well at work, I started school--after years of not being able to make that happen for myself--I even quit smoking, we're driving new cars--at the same time EVEN. We're doing all right.

I have felt that maybe I've been too uppity lately and that is why I've been taken down a few notches, karmic payback if you will. I threw my back out, I've been sick, and so on. Maybe I had it coming. Maybe I was getting a little too boastful about how great things are going for us. Perhaps I haven't shown my gratitude, or even mentioned it enough.

The thing about karma is, we are not better people than anyone else, but we did make choices in our lives that got us to this point. That's where karma fails. Karma would suggest that things are going good for us because we've done or been good, and that's just not the case, sure we've done good, been good, but no more than anyone else I would guess. If anything we've been the recipients of good works and deeds of other people much more than we've given.

Maybe there are karmic forces out there paying back the good and bad deeds of people, I don't know. It is an interesting thing to think about. Christians would probably say it's wrong to believe in karma, but I think it's strikingly close to concepts in Christianity and spirituality in many ways even if referred to by another name.

In any event, it doesn't hurt to strive to be a good person, and do good work anyway. Being a good person is truly a spiritual matter. I realized that one day, it's not a matter of intelligence at all. Someone can be dumb as a box of rocks and still be a good person, while there are people of genius level intelligence who are not morally good. Something to think about really. Sure intelligence is important, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee a good soul.