In other words, what goes around, comes around.  My advice: Follow the Golden Rule.  For those of you who have forgotten or never knew this one, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  I’m a firm believer in karma.  I’ve seen it too many times to deny it; people who deserve it really getting their asses kicked by life.  It scares me straight.  Of course, there are people I know for whom I am seriously hoping karma gets back to them soon, and publicly, so I can feel satisfied.  But in the end, whether I am aware of it or not, I know they will get what is coming to them.

There are just some people out there that are mean.  My husband, in his life as a contractor, meets them way too often- mostly clients, for whom he bends over backwards and jumps through hoops, treating him like unworthy dirt.  These people somehow think they are better than my hard-working, honest, kind, full-of-integrity and midwest politeness man; and they harass him, cheat him, and make him beg for the money he earned.  People I have known through my career, parents, teachers and principals, are no exception.  They bully and treat me (and others) impolitely, to put it nicely.  When we compare notes at night, we come to one conclusion about these people:  they are miserable because they are miserable.  They are bitter, angry, jealous and/or resentful of us for some reason, and they are lashing out.  Realizing this helps me see that karma is already at play.  And we decide that the best revenge is a life well-lived.  In other words, I have a great life, and theirs stink.   Enjoy that… I do.

On the other hand, when you put out positive vibes, you get those back too.  I walk around my school and my town with a smile on my face.  I catch the eyes of people around me and smile at them, and I see their frowns turn upside down.  People can’t help it- a smile begets a smile in return.  Try it and you will see. It’s actually comical to watch their faces.  They are in intense unhappiness, looking straight ahead or down, lost in thought.  I smile at them, and they look up.  First they look a bit puzzled, like is she smiling at me? Then their eyes soften and a smile pushes their cheeks up.  A lot of times I say, hi how ya doin’ just for kicks.  They almost always respond in kind.  Whispers get back to me:  why is she so happy all the time?  I have one answer for those people: I am alive.  I’m lucky and I know it.

And while I am alive, I’m going to do whatever I can to make this world a better place.  I’m a stone thrown into a lake: everything little thing I do and say ripples out and touches other ripples.  Every response, action and reaction is a choice.  So why choose negative when you can choose positive? I have spoken with friends and family members about this and discovered that when things are bad, people cannot see the choices and feel like life has dumped on them unfairly.  And for sure, bad things happen to good people; I’m not claiming otherwise.  But on a daily, normal-life basis, you do have a choice whether you place an experience in the good column or the bad column; and you do have a choice about how you will deal with things.

I have learned to stop taking myself so seriously, but that does not mean I have stopped taking my power to make positive change seriously.  And it does not mean that I have given up my passion and struggle to improve the things on my personal radar that I think I can help change.  It just means I have become comfortable in my skin; comfortable enough to feel, on a deep level, beatific and serene as I go through each day.  My teenage rage has become a finely-tuned instrument of motivation, selection, proaction and balance.  Oh, I’m no angel; that would be boring.  The little devil on my shoulder is alive and well.  I’ve just learned a good dose of lessons about how things play out.  Karma’s a bitch, so behave yourself.