Do you believe in karma?

Yes.

I do.

Call it karma.

Call it the universe.

Call it cause and effect.

Call it whatever the hell you like.

I believe that the things we put out into the world have a habit of coming back to us.

Not necessarily in the mystical, Hollywood sort of way.

I don’t necessarily believe that if someone is horrible to you on Tuesday, the universe will arrange for them to stand on a piece of Lego on Wednesday.

Although…

I’m not entirely ruling it out.

What I mean is something a little simpler.

Our actions have consequences.

The way we treat people matters.

The choices we make shape the person we become.

And sometimes, those choices have a funny way of catching up with us.

I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.

There have been times in my life when anger would have been the easy option.

Someone hurts you.

Someone wrongs you.

Someone treats you badly.

And every fibre of your being screams:

“Go on then.

Give them some of it back.”

I understand that feeling.

I really do.

But I’ve also learned that revenge rarely gives you what you think it will.

It doesn’t undo what happened.

It doesn’t repair the damage.

It doesn’t magically make you feel better.

Sometimes all it does is create another problem.

And another.

And another.

A bit like emotional dominoes, except you’re the idiot who keeps knocking them over.

There’s something I’ve taken from my reading around Buddhism that I find particularly useful.

Not some grand mystical promise that the universe will punish the bad people and reward the good ones.

Something much simpler.

Our intentions and actions matter.

What we cultivate inside ourselves matters.

If I spend my life feeding anger, resentment and hatred, then I’m the one carrying those things around.

Nobody else has to.

I do.

And frankly, I’ve carried enough baggage in my lifetime without deliberately packing another suitcase.

So yes, I believe in karma.

But perhaps my understanding of karma has changed over the years.

I don’t see it as some cosmic courtroom where a celestial judge sits behind a desk handing out sentences.

I see it more as a reminder.

Be careful what you put into the world.

Because your words matter.

Your actions matter.

The way you treat the person who can do absolutely nothing for you matters.

The kindness nobody sees still matters.

The apology nobody expected still matters.

Walking away instead of escalating an argument matters.

Helping someone when you could easily have walked past matters.

And maybe that’s where the universe comes into it.

Maybe there is some great cosmic mechanism at work.

Maybe there isn’t.

I honestly don’t know.

I’m quite comfortable admitting that I don’t have all the answers.

What I do know is that kindness tends to create more kindness.

Anger creates more anger.

Compassion can change the direction of a conversation.

And sometimes choosing peace instead of revenge changes the direction of your entire life.

So if you want to call that karma…

Fine by me.

If you want to call it the universe…

That’s fine too.

If you want to call it simple cause and effect…

You might actually be onto something.

Personally, I’ll probably continue sitting somewhere in the middle.

A little bit spiritual.

A little bit sceptical.

A little bit Buddhist.

And quite a lot of bloke who has made enough mistakes to know that actions have consequences.

Because perhaps karma isn’t about waiting for somebody else to get what they deserve.

Perhaps it’s about making sure that what we put into the world is something we’re happy to live with when it comes back around.

And if the universe wants to throw in the occasional piece of Lego for educational purposes…

Well…

Who am I to argue?

Stay safe,

BC