I really dig the show "My Name is Earl". If you've never seen it, this dude Earl was a horrible person; lied, cheated, stole from his fellow man for years. Then as soon as he hit the lottery and thought he was going to be living in the big time, he was hit by a car leaving the store. Karma.
So he made a list of all the horrible things he could remember doing to people and is going around trying to undo them. Kinda like step 9 on the 12 step deal (I've never done the 12 steps myself I've just been a lots of peoples' 'step 9') only funnier.
It's inbred, country, and funny as hell (kinda like that side of my family
we don't talk about), but it actually has a pretty good message to it. Basically, karma. What you put into the world comes back to you, whether you like it or not.
Karma.
Have you ever noticed that when someone is feeling the results of their own bad karma "Karma is a bitch!" I've thought that myself a few times, usually in times of self-inflicted suffering and denial. I'm hearing similar
grumblings from the people I know, near and far, mostly things like "What did I do to deserve this!?!" and "Why me!?!" which loosely translates into "Karma is a summuma-bitch!!"
The problem is that when the universe whispers back, "It's just a little karma baby, no biggie," they plug their ears with their fingers like rotten children and chant, "La-la-la-la, I can't hear you, la-la-la-la!" For some reason these sad folks would rather believe that they are doomed, cursed, and otherwised jinxed and the world has it in for them for some reason. This grandiose sense of martyrdom seems much more reasonable than maybe, just maybe, taking a moment to just check themselves and make some minor corrections.
And there's the kick in the ass! Karma makes you check yourself and usually correct yourself, and that's way too much for many. Because correcting means admitting "I was wrong," and we all know how much fun that is.
And if you haven't done wrong and are just truly in a genuinely bad place due to circumstance, then taking stock will usually bring to light the parts of your life that are still intact and motivating, loving and supporting; and that's a wonderful experience to have as well.
I think anyone who is having their own "Woe is me, the world it against me!" moment needs to start living like "Their Name is Earl". Take HONEST stock of who you are, where you are, and what you've done to get there. And I mean honest; there is hardly a faultless, blameless soul among us. Be accountable for your prior and current actions and your reactions and maybe life will show you exactly how to take the next
action out of your current funk.
And if you're doing wrong and you know you are doing wrong, get over yourself, suck it up, and realize Karma is gonna bitch slap you until you make another choice, and Karma has a heavy hand.
Personally, "My Name is Rashida" and me and my Karma are damn good friends and I'd like to keep it that way.
