Chapter 69

I hope you didn’t let the title deceive you because this is all about the idea that what goes around, comes around. Or what most of them call it – Karma. Doesn’t sound very interesting now, does it? But this is important, I promise. If you stick around to know the truth, you’ll find out why.

One of the smart guys who walked the Earth once said, “Life is a combination of ways we try, to avoid death.” I agree that this might be the most boring definition of life you’ve heard so far. On the contrary, I also agree that there might be folks out there who find it mesmerizingly mesmerizing. Whatever one’s definition of life may be, we shouldn’t judge them over it. The reason is, everyone is fighting a battle we don’t know about. They might tell you a part of it but probably never the whole story. If you find someone who does, you mean a great deal to them. I really hope you don’t take that kind of trust for granted.

So, karma – what’s up with that? In case you don’t know what it means, it is an idea that what goes around, comes around. You do something good, good happens to you; do something bad, you better worry about saving your butt from catching fire. In modern terminology, it’s a no-brainer, how it works. Does that mean you become a saint? Apparently, not always. Life’s no fun if you always play it safe. Living dangerously can make a difference sometimes, too. Here’s the thing : Try not to follow someone’s life advice religiously. Instead, make your own ones. Do your own thing. Get your heart broken, make mistakes, lose something and someone special, sell yourself on E-Bay, free-fall from a jet, get yourself exorcised and donate your eyebrows or something. Make your own “normal”!

My point is, there’s not much point being the ‘good guy’ or ‘normally average’ your whole life. Being an ideal angel or a life-saver to everyone DOES NOT guarantee you a perfectly happy life. Karma has its own way of getting things done. You can spend your whole life being kind and sweet to every soul you meet and Karma still won’t be your friend. Maybe that’s why some folks call it a bitch. I’m not sure if that’s entirely true but I do know some people have had it a lot worse. Obviously, they never chose it to be that way. Yet the more they try to fix, the less it seems to work.

Coming off clean from tough times, I told my brother once that I’d grown a thick skin against it all. He said, “Don’t grow a thick skin. Grow a flexible one.” Metaphorical talk, of course. I thought that made a lot of sense and I could see what I was doing wrong. That’s pretty much how we all learn, isn’t it? Karma is a bitch sometimes; but a good one. It takes some time to let that sink in.

Someone told me once, “You know, the things you’re crying over now? You’ll laugh over them someday.” I did find out what she meant by that, over two years later. So you see, this circle of life is more than a just a crazy, confusing, wild scribble of turns. You never know when you end up in Siberia or win a Space trip. Be careful what you wish for because you might get it all.

There’s a clever quote I want to wind this post up with. It’s by a guy named Herm Albright and he’s from Germany. Incidentally, he was a good painter. Haven’t heard of him? Me neither.

Anyways his quote reads, “A positive attitude may not solve all your problems but will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” Period. Now, go break a leg.