Blessed Karma

At some point I realized that I often thought of karma when someone pulled a fast one. The thought that would come to mind was "Bad karma, you are attracting bad karma." I also realized that I didn't often think or hear anyone say "He/she has the best karma!"

As human beings, many of us have been so conditioned to go to the down side that we see the negative impact of our thoughts or actions rather than count our blessings or see the good that comes to us is in response to our choices! Making a gratitude list is a task to be done rather than something that flows through our hearts and minds as naturally as our breath flows through our bodies.

Many of us have been taught from a very young age not to acknowledge ourselves openly because that is being prideful or arrogant. Is it? Or do pride and arrogance come from a need to overcome a lack of self-love and self-respect? I am sitting at my desk typing this. When I stop and look at my little home, I smile broadly and think "I did it! I created this sweet, safe place in which to live close to my son and his family. Everything I have done and chosen over the last 20+ years made this possible! I have used my natural gifts and talents for the benefit of myself and others and here I am!" This is blessed karma and I am profoundly grateful for my teachers and their teachers, including a dear friend who is also my financial advisor. I am grateful for my students who trusted me with their bodies, minds and hearts. I am grateful for my employers and co-workers who saw my abilities and gave me avenues to express that part of myself.

Blessed karma comes in response to my openness to living from True Self and from acknowledging and using my gifts and talents whenever I have the opportunity. When I give in this way, I am blessed in the process because using the gifts that flow naturally through me is riding the zipline of life! I am blessed also because my needs are met in the process, my hopes are fulfilled and my dreams can manifest (even though I am often surprised that they come in the ways they do).

My life has challenges still. Most are a result of my periodic need to believe or live the stories in my head rather than being in the present moment fully and openly but that is life, yes? Perhaps this is truly the greatest gift I have received through my lifetime of spiritual practices and studies: I understand that the present moment is all that exists and being willing to experience it mindfully allows me to find its blessing whether the moment feels like the gentle brush of angel wings or the roaring wind of a hurricane.

I invite you to become aware of the abundance of blessed (good) karma that you have attracted and created in your life. Give yourself credit for the wonder that you are. Be blessed through your own gifts and talents by appreciating them and using them often. You think you don't have gifts to share? Really? As I walked one morning, a man was leaving his house to get in his car. I heard him say goodbye to someone and turned in his direction. He was smiling with such radiance and pure joy that I made eye contact, grinned myself and said "You have an amazing smile! Thanks for making my day!" He responded with "You are so welcome" and kept on going. He didn't need me to tell him about that gorgeous smile but it wasn't pride in his response. He was just being himself, no need for false humility either. Just "you are so welcome."

A student gave me a gift she had designed and made and I had no idea she was an artist. When I saw her, I hugged her and expressed my joy at the beauty of her work. I thanked her for sharing it with me in such a sweet and delightful way. She quietly said, "Thank you. I am so glad you like it." She was not the first person to give me a personal creation; she was one of the very few who didn't say "Oh, it's not a big deal. Just something I like to do." Why were so few of us taught to say "Thank you. I love using my talent to create something beautiful that makes people happy."

Your talent may be the way your eyes soften when you say "I love you." It may be an artistic ability worth thousands of dollars. It may be your ability to listen so that another feels truly heard. It may be a love of numbers that makes you a person I would trust with my taxes. You are the gift, dear heart. Acknowledge yourself and appreciate all the blessed karma that comes because you are simply being you.

Thank you for your presence in the world. You are a gift to my life.