A couple of things have prompted me to write about karma. 

Last Saturday night my husband and I went to dinner at a restaurant in downtown Columbus.  The Good Parking Spot Goddess blessed us with a parking space right in front of the restaurant.  I dutifully fed the parking meter enough change to register an hour and half of parking.  It was 7:00 p.m.  The meter stopped at 8:00 p.m. 

When we returned to the car after dinner, I had a parking ticket for $45.00!  I was outraged.  I know the City of Columbus needs money but scamming me on a parking meter just pisses me off!

My husband, the ever kind and sensitive guy he is, made merciless fun of me on the way home.  When Dharma Dog greeted us at the door, my husband quipped, "Mama is a felon.  She's going to jail!"  I shot him a glare and went on into the house, ignoring the rest of his jokes at my expense.

This morning my husband took our youngest daughter to the airport.  I thought he was going straight to work.  Instead he stopped by the house for a moment.  With a sheepish look on his face, he confessed, "I got a parking ticket when I took Sarah's bag in for her."

All I could do was laugh.

The other thing that's prompted me to write about karma is listening to the sad tale of woe about a friend's son.  He's working hard to build his own business but isn't having a lot of success.  The main issue seems to be that his clients use his services and then don't pay him or they undercut him.  The world is against him.  It's full of people trying to cheat him out of money.  All I could say that usually when something happens to me like that it means that I am now or have in the past cheated someone else in some way.

No, that was not the case, I was assured.  He tries to be honest.  He's generous.  He takes care of his obligations. 

That is not the truth, the same young man has undercut his obligations to his young son, both in time and money.

What goes around, comes around.  Sometimes it takes longer than we like if someone has wronged us.  Sometimes it takes more honesty than we can muster to be truthful about times when we have done wrong.  I even believe that sometimes it takes lifetimes but we get what we give.