What if our perception of karma is wrong?

Sometimes we must challenge long-held beliefs to forge a new path and create greater focus in our lives.

Think about this:

For more years than I can remember, I used to always say to people who were in a tough relationship that it was because they mistreated someone in the past. If they were struggling financially, it was because they had very little respect for money. Many times on social media, you’ll see people say right after someone gets dumped in a relationship, “Don’t worry, karma will bite them in the ass.”

In other words, we reap what we sow. But is this absolute statement a big fat lie?

I’ve worked with people who have had affairs on their partner, yet slept like a baby every night. They didn’t suffer the consequences that other people suffer. And these weren’t psychotic individuals. They were everyday kind of people who just had decided they wanted to be with someone else. After working with them for six months or longer, it would become clear that there were still no ramifications to their actions. When they would return five or six years later, and when I would ask them about how the last number of years went in the new relationship, they would be honest with me and say they hadn’t had any problems at all.

But if karma was absolute, as we’ve been taught, they should have suffered in some way. There should’ve been chaos and drama in their minds that created guilt and shame that would not allow them to sleep, that would damage their relationships in some way.

I’ve also worked with people who have been unjust and mean-spirited toward others, and they don’t think anything about it. When I dig for details about their current business and friendships looking for signs of people who may be treating them the way they treat others, often times the answer is that there are no such people to be found—they are completely fine.

Now, this article is not condoning people to cheat on others, steal from others, or mistreat others.

Rather, it is to consider that many times we take these “laws of life” as absolute, and they may not be.

So what’s the takeaway from the concept that karma may not be absolute? We need to quit wasting our time saying things like, “They’ve got it coming—karma is a b*tch.”

That actually puts us in a negative state of mind. Wishing ill on another person is not healthy for us, and I doubt if it’s going to have any effect on them. What it truly does is take our energy away from living a positive life.

As a society, we need to drop this whole thing about people getting their “payback,” because as I just mentioned, it takes away from us being positive, progressive individuals.

Be careful of what you believe in—many of the old “laws of the universe,” just like the law of attraction or statements like “whatever you believe you can achieve,” are not 100 percent factual either.

Be careful. Be selective. Just because famous motivational speakers have told us that karma is absolute, does not mean it is at all.

Relephant reads:

The Truth about Karma.
Karma: It’s Not About what we Do.

Author: David Essel
Image: someecards
Editor: Emily Bartran
Copy Editor: Catherine Monkman
Social Editor: Waylon Lewis