Instant Karma

I've always had a strong sense of right and wrong. I think perhaps it stems from being caught trying to get away with things as a child. I can't recall a single instance where I "got over" on my parents. But I can recall the sometimes severe punishments to my infractions. Maybe being hit has a way of searing it into your brain better. I can't say. I do know that this strong sense of right and wrong is almost always unshakably black and white about everything. And I can tell you that karma has an easy time of it with me. Is it a self fulfilling prophesy? I really hope not. But I've never been able to escape it.

As a teenager and young adult when I would lie, the lie would come true. If I said I was sick and wasn't, I would then, indeed, fall sick. It seems petty and even funny, but when instances like these happen over and over in every kind of scenario you can imagine, you clearly see the pattern. The pattern is karma, and I've seen it also play out in my child. When she does something mean spirited, a consequence almost always immediately befalls her. This started at an age far too young for her to even grasp the concept of karma, yet there it was manifesting itself every single time.

My other child is much more like their father. Their karma isn't instant. They both also have an uncanny knack for lying without anyone but themselves knowing the full truth. Does it stem from this lack of instant karma? Maybe? Since they see no ill befall their bad behavior, it possibly reinforced that they could get away with it.

I don't believe they fully escape karma, though. Maybe it simply manifests differently, over longer periods, making it seem completely random. That's what I like to believe, but I really can't say, because my karma so obviously reports itself immediately. I can only account for my own reality and experiences. It's interesting though as a concept to know how different it is for everyone. How vastly different each person's experiences with right and wrong may be.