I believe that it comes around, but not always in this lifetime.

Absolutely!!!! I have an ex-husband who cheated on me so I left him. He remarried and 10 years later, his wife cheated on him!!!!! My mother always told me that "what goes around, comes around"!!!

I believe it comes around and goes around. It's satisfying to see a rat " get theirs ". It's a blessing to see good things happen to good people too.

Linda

You are born with the Genes from your Parents and there Parents and there Parents and so on. You could be born into a wealthy family or a poor family.

Next is the nurturing stage from your community, family and friends. Morals are formed.

Then I think there is responsibility and accomplishments. You can choose to be lazy or productive. You can choose to grow or stagnate.

You can rejoice in all things, or you can indulge in creating more misery by your negative deeds.

You can lie to get your way or tell the truth and face your consequences.

The only choice we don't have is the right to choose our Parents. Some religions believe we do choose our parents.

There is Karma we are born with and Karma we earn. If you make healthy and wise choices you will be rewarded.

What goes around does come around.

Gayle

Yes, I surely do believe in the 'circle of deeds'. I can't relate the particular incident that made me believe it - it's very personal, but I know that karma is for real and does indeed happen.

A friend of mine was married to a real SOB. He would spend money on himself to no end and tell her that they couldn't afford anything nice that she wanted. He divorced her and married a sweet young thing 25 years younger. Very soon after that he dropped dead from a heart attack. So soon afterwards that he had not gotten around to changing his life insurance policy!!! She inherited a huge chunk of money. First thing she bought was a Jaguar.
Karma, you betcha.

Ron

I don't believe in it at all.

I think our reward or punishment for living a good or bad life will happen only after we die.

I have to believe it because the Bible says so. I just don't know if everyone reaps what they sow in life or after life or if there is such a thing as another life. I also don't know if we recognize things as being due payment. Because something happens to a person doesn't necessarily mean it is their just due since things happen to everyone. But then, I guess that means everyone does something to deserve the things that happen, and that could mean good things and bad. Did you catch the circle? So then, what does it mean when bad things happen to babies and small children? It's a very vicious circle you can easily dizzy yourself around if you're wondering what you did to deserve what is happening, and "Why me?" is commonly exclaimed. If something has happened to you, would you like to share it? Perhaps you'll find more concise answers or at least some comfort.

I'm not sure if this answers your question but will share it for you to decide. I did something I knew for certain the Bible says not to do, and I did it knowing I might pay for it. I have paid dearly but at the same time, I have to wonder if I am paying for that particular offense or the others that I've committed. And for that matter, most people (practically the whole world) do the same and commit the other offenses too, but I don't see them paying the same. It might be that I did that one particular thing with disregard and hautily felt I will take my punishment, not knowing what it would be or how severe.

I've always believed OJ would get his due. He has "earned" every bit of trouble he is having now.

Not as an actual, real energy in the universe. To me, it's an attitude. If you have a positive attitude and try to do good things in life, you will be more likely to see the good that comes back to you instead of focusing on the bad.

Sometimes very bad things happen to very good people and there is no reason to it. Sometimes it is the result of monstrous actions of others. Like a young woman in GA who was recently abducted while hiking, held for 3 days and murdered. That was not the result of karma or anything coming around and going around. That is random and tragic and not the will of any kind of god I want to have faith in; it was the actions of a sick, evil person who is barely human.

Sometimes it's the result of natural disaster. I cannot accept that "bad karma" had anything to do with people losing everything, including life, in Hurricane Katrina. I don't see it as a punishing act of god, either. While there are natural causes and explanations, it's still so tragic it boggles the mind.

I think humans try very hard to explain the unexplainable in life, to make it more controllable. What really gets us through this unpredictable world is faith and attitude.

stephanie's last sentence, says it all..... Perfect.

Guy took my DH's ideas, they were supposed to be partners if the item was a success. He cut DH out of the deal. Made big bucks with the product. First time the guy took a vacation he died in a plane crash.

Adult neighbor once told my son it was OK if her kid hit him on the head with a racket because he was "already brain damaged" anyway. Yeah she really said that to a seven year old. A year later she gave birth to a child with Down's Syndrome.

Guy threatened to "fix me" years ago. He had the ability to hurt me but I managed to go over his head. I'm sure he "hated" me for that. He's dead now. Younger than me. Lost all his friends before he died. He had a VERY small funeral.

Yep. Karma. I like her. LOL

WildChild, that's what I mean about the vicious circle. I can see attributing those to Karma. It's easy to do but for the sake of argument, let's say the (first) guy was going to die anyway. I mean, how could you know if he wasn't going to or if it happened because of what he did? And if that was his payback, why did his family benefit from his wrong doing? He obviously left them more money (and a thriving business) than if he had not done that to your husband? And, does karma mean you only pay for the bad things you do? Is it also karma that your husband go to his death bed without recompense? Why is that good deed lost to him forever to the benefit of the other guy's family?

I agree with Stephanie, too. Very well stated.

I don't have all the answers.People have asked that age old question of why good and bad things happen and to whom for ever.

In the case of the guy his wife is financially set yes but the company was already on the downside and facing trademark lawsuits. She had cheated on him in the past and they were trying to repair their marriage.There was a lot of stuff this family did that was deceitful and not living up at all to the religious values they espoused.. I feel sorry for the wife because I don't think she deserved to lose as much as she did. Her son and his wife died in the crash also. Small tour plane. One family. Wife stayed on the ground that day. But there was Karma involved in the man not being allowed to enjoy the fruits of his deceptions.

My DH got to keep his values and not be a cheat.My DH has the respect of his children for being an honest breadwinner. That is worth more than monetary gain. I know lots of people with more money than us. Some are very "sad." LOL.

Believe in Karma? Yep, sure do.

Absolutely believe.
Just look at "Earl"! that will make a believer out of you!
Kathy G in MI

GAYLE!! You packed a punch...I've copied and pasted to word and am putting it on my son's bulletin boards...what a life lesson...because I've always practiced, what go's around, comes around AND the other thing I've taught my kids is the Thumper line from Bambi...If you can't say something nice...don't say nuttin at all...You spoke volumes of wisdom in your thread!

I've always believe in Karma and that good goes around...it seems that we may never get to see the scums of the world get theirs...but that's alright cause I believe those people aren't going to the same place I hope to go when I die! I wont say I've done everything in life perfect...and I might have to answer for some of those things someday...but my heart seems to be in the right place!

Sometimes the people that do good things get good results - but often it doesn't happen that way. Christians and Jews would do well to read the Book of Job.

Sometimes the people who do a lot of nasty things get the kind of results that many of us feel that they deserve...

... but often they come through life smelling like a rose.

Sometimes, even recently, I've said that it appears that what went around ... has come back around.

But often it seems to me that it doesn't happen that way.

ole joyful

I most certainly do. For me, it's more of a religious belief. Allow me to explain: I believe we are all children of God. I don't believe God appreciates when one of us messes with another of his children.

I have witnessed on several occasions that when someone 'messes' with someone else out of greed or spite or just plain meanness, it always comes back to them. And the beautiful part of it is, it's often that the individual that was originally messed with, by no direct intent of their own, has something to do with it 'coming back around.'

A family of fine people who many would say were the salt of the earth that I knew a number of years ago had suffered a number of very trying circumstances - son in law killed in a train hitting car, a daughter with very severe ongoing disabling illness who died rather young, another daughter who died young, leaving small child and their barn burned shortly after I arrived in the community.

A number of people said that there was no way in which they deserved such a series of painful situations, such suffering. That it seemed not at all fair.

Perhaps much of the time it appears that many "get what they deserve", in our judgement ... but it seems to me that in many cases there are those who don't.

In any case, it seems to me that I should live a decent, honest, trustworthy life, treating my fellow travellers on the journey of life as I'd like to be treated ... whether there's a payoff or not.

Plus ... I think I heard on the radio the other night that there are something like 73 million refugees in the world these days, who have nothing. Do you think that they're getting what they deserve?

The leaders of the Russians and of the U.S. agreed to have the Russians have a sphere of influence in North Korea, after World War II, and the U,.S. have influence in the south. During the Korean war, hundreds of thousands of Korean familes were split up ... it wasn't their fault, it was world politics, the machinations of the world powers, that did that. Did those Korean refugees get what they deserved?

How about the 800,000 or so Rwandans that were slaughtred by a different tribe in about 100 days, about 15 years ago? And when the leader of the U.N. peacekeeping contingent, seeing it coming, asked for about 5,000 soldiers to keep it from happening, what response did he get?

Nothing.

Later, many of us said, "Never again"!

But the same game has been going on in the southern Sudan for several years, and the rest of the world has done little to try to stop it.

Same with the Central African Republic.

Does anyone have any idea how many Iraqis have died/been killed in the past 5 years or so?

It seems to me that it's easy for us, who live in relative peace, comfort, prosperity and security, to talk.

ole joyful

P.S. What have I done that makes someone feel that recent (really rather inconsequential) personal difficulties are deserved?

As I have said on earlier occasions, if I have said things here which have caused someone personal discomfort or pain, it certainly was not intended, and I would like to know of it, and ask that any of you who may know of it let me know, that I may take what action may be necessary to get the issue resolved.

o j

Joyful, I think the poster up there meant OJ Simpson, not you.

I think it's all too easy to believe that what-goes-around..., but all too often it doesn't. I do believe that SOME things happen for a reason, but not all. I DO believe there is such a thing as coincidence. For each instance of WGACA, I can think of as many or more where they did the crime but won't do the time. Is a "pardon" (in the legal sense) under WGACA or is it fly in the face of WGACA? I think more the latter.

Personally, I think the cliche of WGACA is way offset by the other cliche of the good die young, the bad live on and on... My mother died at age 57. I have, let's just say another family member who's in her 90s and she's one of the biggest, most selfish crooks on earth.

Life is not fair. But that's the way it is. I like (professional wrestler) Ric Flair's oft-said quote: "Whether you LIKE it, or DON'T like it, LEARN TO LOVE IT..." And if you at least learn to accept it, you'll feel a lot better.

I think too often people are just trying to explain the unexplainable and will attribute it to whatever they can, whether it's karma, WGACA, a rabbit's foot, lucky penny or whatever else can be conjured up.

I think bad things happen to people (good or bad) all the time and we just like to see a connection (with a little grin on our face) when those bad things happen to people we don't like or respect.

In response to a post above, I highly doubt, for example, that my God would send a Down's Syndrome child to someone because they said a very stupid remark to a child. If I believed that, I'd have to believe that all people that have a Down's Syndrome child would somehow have deserved it which, of course, I don't believe.... Although from what I hear, Down Syndrome children often bring more love and joy than other kids so maybe people with Down's Syndrome kids(or the like) are actually being "blessed" with good Karma if you're going to believe in that type of thing. Who knows?

It's all in how you look at it.

Yeah OJ you deserve all you get (chuckling). You can relax now - it's not about you. Now the other OJ - I have no pity for the things that are happening to him.

I don't really believe in it, but it pleases me when I see good things happen to good people. Unfortunately, it's not evenly balanced, because bad things happen to good people, too. I wish MORE people believed in it, though, because I think more people could stand to be kinder and nicer.