Today I want to write a bit about karma and what it means to me.

I think that many people misunderstand the concept of karma.  I use to think karma was something akin to a cosmic order of things, or the notion that if I did something bad the universe might be out to get me one day....when I least expected it.  On the other hand, if I did something good, I might get lucky and hit the lottery, find my soulmate, or become famous.  Bascially, I thought karma was a metaphysical "what goes around comes around".

Nowadays followers of "The Secret" would have you believe that all you have to do is think positive thoughts and fortune will smile favorably upon you.  Do you want to win the lottery?  Now all you have to do is believe that you will strike it rich, and you will!!!!

I am not here to cast stones, and I am even openminded to the idea that anything is possible.  But, in my life, the only thing that has had any lasting effect is the actions that I've taken, the habits that I've changed.

So what does this have to do with karma? 

Well, despite its trancendental underpinnings I believe karma to be simple cause and effect.  It is the concept that every single second affects the second after it.  When applied to my life, it means that the thoughts that I entertain affect the personality that I have.  It means the choices I make affect the person I will become and the life I will have.  It means that my future is being created and altered in profound ways through the seemingly insignificant events of the present.

When I think about the concept of karma I always get a mental image of an object traveling in space, like if Neil Armstrong had taken a Rawlings baseball up to the moon and chucked it out into the void.  That ball's momentum, left unchecked, would send it on a straight path.  However, if it bumped into some tiny stardust particles along the way, changing its trajectory ever so slightly (by 1/10000000 of a degree), in time the ball would have changed course by millions of miles.

In the end, the people who do bad things may have a kick-in-the-butt coming, but I believe it comes in the form of their own concience, the state of their lives, or other consequences of their actions.  People who believe they will succeed may infact be more prone to succeed, but it will be because of the actions they took to get there.

But then again, this is just my belief (and I don't claim to be right).  I'd certainly be interested to hear what other people think.

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus(121 AD - 180 AD), Meditations
 
Marcus Aurelius is an ancient Greek emporer and philosopher best known for his role in the movie Gladiator (to jog your memory he is the one who was killed at the beginning of the movie by his incestuous son played by Joaquin Phoenix.)

He also was known to a much lesser degree for authoring one of the most highly regarded books of philosphy in ancient Greece. But only philsophers and historians know anything about that.

So what do you think of his quote?

I partly agree and partly disagree.

I disagree in the sense that I believe that my life is what my actions, not my thoughts, make of it. To be honest, during any given day I have any number amount of loopy thoughts that run through my head. Some that are based in reality, and most that aren't. The key for me is to only act on the ones that are based in reality or the ones that are going to have a positive impact on my life.

However, I agree that people can manifest their own destinies by living in negativity. Does this mean I can always just convince myself to think positively? For me, no it doesn't. I've tried to do this and it ends up just making me feel exhausted in the end. For me I need to do something that is going to make me feel better. Call a friend. Stop for 20 seconds on the way to work to watch the sunrise. Show an extra amount of kindness to someone that I run across throughout my day. These attempts to reduce my self-centeredness and self-reliance are the best ways for me to affect my thinking.

By the way, is it me or could that actor easily pass for the late George Carlin?