OOOOHHH, KARMA is going to get you!!  You do me wrong, I don’t have to worry about it.

Because KARMA!!

This seem familiar?  Ever had someone tell you this?  Or maybe you read a Facebook post to this effect.  Or maybe you even thought it or said it yourself.

I sure have.

And I know I’m guilty of at least thinking this karmic revenge even if I’ve not said it out loud (though I know I’ve done that, too).

But karma works two ways, right?  If you put out bad thoughts, words, energy, they come back to you.

Guess what, though?

We’re both receivers and senders of negativity.

So why do we forget that maybe the hurt we experience at someone else’s hands might just be good ol’ karma coming back to us?

My first inclination is to blame the offender.  But when I step back, I have to consider whether I myself have put out some bad energy that’s coming back so that I’ll learn a lesson.

Dang.  I hate it when karma works in that direction!

I want it to go out, not come back in!

Karma’s not quite so attractive from that other side.

I’ve confessed in this blog before that I’m a resenter.  And that’s not all.  I’m critical, often defensive, sometimes angry.  I’m lazy and undisciplined and, boy, do I procrastinate.

I’ve got sooooooo many faults.  And some of these, probably all of these, affect others.  I don’t usually strike out to “get” others, but I sure can have some negative thoughts toward them.

So when I experience negativity directed to me . . . .  well, if I step back and consider it, I can usually come up with a time when I’ve acted almost exactly like this.  Actually, it’s usually many times that I’ve acted like this.

Sigh.

I know how it feels on both the giving and the receiving end.

And if I think on it a little longer, I wonder . . . . So maybe that’s ultimately what karma is all about?

Feeling compassion?

Now that really reframes karma for me.

I’m trying now not to judge so quickly, not to call on KARMA to “get” people – but instead to look at myself and remember when I’ve acted the same way, said similar words, expressed or felt similar emotions.

Yeah, I might be on the receiving end of some karma, eh?

And then I try to forgive myself as well as the “offender,” the karma-returner.

Because you know what?

We’re all doing the best we can with where we are right now in our lives.  Yeah, we can all look at our lessons and choose different actions – when we find the courage.

And perhaps, just perhaps, some compassion from someone rather than a wish of some bad karma will be just what it takes to shift the energy from pain and hurt into that courage.

I know en-couragement has often made the difference for me.

So maybe I can en-courage someone else just a little by choosing compassion and forgiveness instead of wishes for karma to bite my offender (and possible karma-returner) in the butt.

And in the long run, by choosing compassion, maybe I help my karma get just a bit better, too.

Oh, yeah – it will!  Because that’s how karma works, right?

And who doesn’t want some good karma headed her way??

I sure do.

So next time I feel hurt or offended, I’m going to try to take a breath, step back, and find some compassion.  For that person.  And for myself.

And in that process, I might shift some karma.

Just a little.