#62: Karma
I've been thinking about karma. If what you put out is really what you get back. Recently, Barbra Ehrenreich published a book titled Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. The book discusses how the American culture of positive thinking can create a backlash and a complacency that is more harmful than good.
One of the blurbs about the book says:
We're always being told that looking on the bright side is good for us, but now we see that it's a great way to brush off poverty, disease, and unemployment, to rationalize an order where all the rewards go to those on top. The people who are sick or jobless—why, they just aren't thinking positively. They have no one to blame but themselves.
Is that the truth? Maybe it's not that I'm not working hard enough but that I'm not thinking positively enough. Or maybe the recession is not the resut of wayward spending and corrupt companies but rather that "we" collectively were drowning in a sea of negative thoughts.
I definitely feel that I could do myself a service by wallowing a bit less but I find it hard to believe that Paris Hilton thinks more positive thoughts than I do or puts more "good vibes" out into the world and is therefore reaping the benefits of it.
I'm going to commit myself to making sure that I treat people with love and respect. That's what I can control. And I'll continue to work towards my goals. But I don't think anything is handed to anyone. Hopefully, that's enough for this life and any others.
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