Faster than you think...

I've written about karma before. I absolutely believe in the concept and have faith in its existence. I had a great conversation with friends over the weekend about karma.

We all have people who either are still in our lives or who have exited that we are less than fond of. Come on, admit it... You know you do. I know I do. But whatever my feelings about them, present or past, I always have faith that the universe will take care of everyone with the respect and love they have earned. Call it kismet. Call it fate. Call it whatever you want but I have absolute certainty that it's true.

So when the conversation turned this weekend to what happens to people who have been unkind or even cruel, of course I invoked the "karma works" provision.

What I didn't think of then and what has occurred to me since is that karma has already done its thing. If two people part, whether they be life partners, family, friends, colleagues, coworkers or whatever, after one has been heartless to the other, pay attention. From my experience, one person, the individual who has been unkind, remains in that place of darkness that allowed them to treat another individual in this way. And the other, the person who felt the sting of words or actions, now being free is also free to feel true happiness. Oh sure, once in a while one person will have to deal with the other but they are now inherently separate. Positive from negative.

Isn't that karma in its most simple application? Karma works faster than you think. And thank all goodness for that.

Who's Counting?

It's a funny thing when you are capsulizing your life in broad strokes to someone who doesn't know you particularly well... Skipping the details that make all of your decisions make a bit more sense, you tend to cover the highlight reel, hit the key points that are generally accepted as important but sometimes the story seems more odd than you thought. And you're the one who lived it.

This happened to me recently. Talking about the big relationships I've had in my life, I named three. Partner #1; short, tragic, painful, leaving indelible marks that although faded, pop up every now and again. Partner #2; longer, stable, generally happy relationship that ended in mutual, respectful agreement. And Partner #3; you know all about that one.

There are several ways to interpret this bird's eye view (relationship-wise that is). Some people say you get one true love in your life, someone who will sweep you off your feet and with whom you will, of course, live happily ever after (I blame Disney for this... stupid 'princess being rescued by prince charming' story lines setting little girls up with the notion that a man will take care of them and men with the equally twisted notion that their only role in the plot is to save the woman). Clearly I've messed that one up because after three tries, Disney and I have agreed to disagree.

In Sex and the City, Charlotte decided that we all get two true loves (a convenient conclusion after the failure of her first marriage). Although not a popular view of love, it's an agreeable perspective given most peoples' situations. Still not looking good here because clearly I've over-shot by one.

And then there's the sporting reference. Three strikes, you're out. And like everything sporting, this connotation does not work for me. At all.

So what's left? Am I done? Had my chance, roll up the rug, turn the lights out and start collecting cats? No. I don't buy into that either.

Four. Four leaf clover. Shamrocks. Luck of the Irish.

Now there's an idiom I can get behind!

Kids and psychics and art... Oh my!

There are a multitude of activities that can occupy your time.  This weekend I've had quite the diverse mix that called up a wide range of emotions.

The weekend started in the usual way, with a late arrival home and a quiet Friday night (I find that by the time I get home and divest myself of a week's worth of stress, anxiety, late nights and early mornings, the best I can muster on a Friday night is a great glass of wine and the hope of a peaceful sleep).  Saturday morning (after the blessing of that peaceful night sleep) I got up, made my coffee, grabbed my laptop and caught up on the world.  I have to admit, part of me misses the days where I collected my newspapers and readied myself for my relaxed ritual of reading through, article by article, while I refilled my coffee as many times as was necessary.  But technology wins this race so on-line I go.  After getting sufficiently caught up, I begin to get ready for the day ahead and embark on my Saturday fun.  And that is where the "average" ends.

The highlight of the weekend was most certainly the art opening that featured the work of my youngest son.  It's an amazing thing when you can separate yourself from the moment and take a snapshot of what it means in the broader landscape of your life.  As I watched my boy move about the crowd, answer questions, accept accolades and take moments from the fray to hang with his "Ma" I knew that whatever mistakes I had made in raising him, whatever challenges had presented themselves to him, he had the wisdom, strength and compassion (which he would not admit to save his life) to overcome them all.  He had become a man and the man he became was good.

Before that I was lucky to enjoy what is becoming a more and more regular dinner at my girlfriend's home filled with laughter and love and antics involving her own quirky, comical and charming son and daughter who is becoming a wonderful, smart and accomplished young woman before our very eyes.  As we share stories and jokes I wonder who these young people will become.  What lies ahead of them?  There are so many paths open to them but the certainty for me is that I look forward to being friends with them when they are adults too.

But the most unusual piece of the weekend by far was part one... My visit to the Psychic Fair.  Now before you make your judgements and condescending remarks, know that I believe there is something in all of us, that when listened to with regard, can make positive impacts in our lives.  Call it intuition... gut feeling... whatever, there is something there and I know that whenever I have ignored that, I have been worse off.  Maybe not right away but always.  At some point.  Worse.  My oldest son's partner was hosting the event and in support of her and out of pure curiosity, off I went.  After walking around for a while, I settled on a numerologist (what could be made up with numbers, after all?) and gave her my full name.

After she did her analysis and provided me the results, this is what stood out.  I'm not good at relationships.

I didn't need a psychic to tell me that.

Of course, she said a lot more than that.  Past life stuff... Current life stuff... But the big one was, despite what may seem contradictory in my other "gifts" relationships are not my thing.

Note to self.... No more numerologists and work on that relationship thing.  In no particular order.