A Little Slice of Karma

Occasionally Jeffrey comes to me with philosophical musings.
Things that make me wonder myself about the reasons behind the universe.

"Mom is there such a thing as Karma?"

"Some people think so"

'"Well what do YOU think?"

"I think it's important to be good to people and treat them the way you would want to be treated whether or not there is Karma."

"Who is this Karma anyway? And why does she get to decide whether you've been good or not? Is she like God or Santa Claus?" (Jeffrey took it upon himself to decide that Karma was a she.)

"Karma's not a person.. it's a thing."

"Huh? How can a thing make decisions....?"

"Karma is a belief held by many East Indian religions that if you do good deeds, then good things come back to you. And if you do bad things than bad things come back to you."

Long thoughtful pause.

"Do you believe that?"

"I believe that you should always be good to other people and try to do what's right regardless if you get rewarded for it or not."

"Is it bad that I'm trying to be good, you know to "have good Karma" right now so Santa will deliver more gifts on Christmas?"

(Somehow it always comes back to that)

"Well it would be nice if you tried to "have good Karma" all year long. That's what really counts. Doing good things even when you don't have too."

"Thats a lot of work. And what if it doesn't pay off? I mean, what if I do all this good stuff and it doesn't matter in the long run?"

"Then you have the satisfaction of knowing that at least you did the best you could and didn't add bad stuff to the world."

"True." (I could tell he was still unconvinced that the possible merits outweighed all the work involved).

It was about this point that I started wondering. Was there Karma? If there was than I must have really screwed the pooch at some point in the past. But apparently I was asleep when it happened because I could not for the life me think of what I could have done to end up where we are right now.

Oh great.. now I was starting to doubt myself. I felt like I have been a good person. Always trying to do for others.. to be there for my kids, to go out of my way for friends. Obviously those things don't matter.

Life's a bitch (and then you die!). Yup that's the truth. Nothing you do matters in the long run. You're either lucky or you're not. You're either given good breaks or dealt a lousy hand.

HUMPH! We know where I stand!

And as I sank lower and lower into a cascade of negative self talk, suddenly someone wrapped his arms around me and snuggled in for a really meaningful hug.

"I love you mom"

"Well I love you too Jeffrey."

"I just wanted to give you  a hug because you looked sad.
And I wasn't trying to improve my Karma"

He smiled his big goofy smile, hugged me again and bounced off to engage in another epic space battle.

OK, maybe all those good things I do is paying off after all.