What GOes Around comes around
This week’s life lesson has been about Karma. In my 300-hour yoga teacher training we are re-reading the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Hindu text that offers many foundational principles for yoga as a spiritual practice. Additionally, I am reading The New Eight Steps to Happiness in my Buddhism foundations class. Both lessons this week have heavily emphasized karma. I have always heard the phrase, “what goes around comes around” and I believe that to be true. However, I’ve been learning that this is an oversimplification of karma. According to the texts and the accompanying lessons, karma is an accumulation of small actions over many lifetimes. So naturally, I have been asking myself, what the hell did I do in past lives to deserve still being single at almost 50 years old and how did I treat people in the past that led me to experiencing the adverse actions from my former employer? Hmmmmm, lots of food for thought this week and lots of questions for my spirit guides the next time I talk to them (HAHA)!
At this stage in life, I have been focusing not only on finding the positive, but also believing that the universe continues to give me gifts and life lessons in those difficult experiences, I hope I continue to gain wisdom and I am learning to be grateful that! As a single person who has enjoyed various partnerships over the years, I have not had to endure the pain of divorce. As someone who left a meaningful and rewarding career because the environment became unbearable, I am now able to focus on living in my values and moving towards my heart’s true purpose. All good things, right? Good things that have come from painful lessons. I’m becoming more and more aware of my own personal decisions, my state of mind, and the impact my energy and attitude can have on others.
As someone with anxiety and depression, it is hard on those days when you’re really feeling down and out, to find the positive. It’s much easier to give in to binging a show on Netflix, in your pajamas, and staying on the couch all day! My neighbor teases me about having dogs and how many times a day I have to walk them. I often wonder, if I didn’t have the dogs would I ever get out of my pajamas?
Would I appreciate the cool crips fall mornings, the heavy snow days, the single moment in the morning when the sun hasn’t quite risen yet and the sky is pink? Or the night sky full of stars and the various stages of the moon? There is nothing better than a low hanging, orange moon. And having huskies means I never get an inside, movie binge snow day to myself! The dogs are royal pains in the ass, but I can’t imagine what my life would be like without them, especially through this transitional period.
In reflecting on the lessons this week, I have a renewed commitment to continue treating people the way I want to be treated, with kindness and compassion. To know that I am responsible for my own actions and reactions, and that is all. I am not responsible for the decisions others make or how they treat people. As I think about my former employer, I no longer feel angry or jaded, I have compassion for those who are still working in that environment and I also have compassion for my previous supervisor and whatever experiences they have had in their life that makes them lead others through fear and intimidation. I also find comfort in knowing that karma exists and that mistreating people will come back at you one way or another….just sayin’!
Take a moment to reflect on your personal experiences with karma. What are some ways you can move in the world that would improve karma and add more meaning to your life? Journal on this topic, and join the conversation on our Facebook page or join this Monday’s Meditation as we revisit loving kindness.
