Recently I heard something terrible. A story that had a very sad ending.

Someone I know just had a terrible experience, where something really awful happened on a flight. When the person telling me the story was finished with the awful ending, I started chuckling. In fact, everyone in the room started chuckling.

And that’s because the person who had this terrible experience was one of the meanest, nastiest, lack of compassion person we all had ever met. And the general feeling in the room was ‘well, what goes around.”

OK, I will admit it. I feel bad about it. But I will also admit that I’ve re-told the story 3-4 times and have laughed every time.

It’s like how you cheer when the water in the Wizard of Oz melts the Wicked Witch of the West. She got what she deserved.

But that led me to a bigger thought. Is there such thing as karma?

Do good things happen to good people, and bad things eventually happen to bad people?

We’ve all witnessed both sides of this argument. Nasty, backstabbing people, who get ahead on the back of the nice, well meaning people. But I’ve also heard opposite side of that story. When someone who worked hard their entire life, is recognized as a hero in their community for making a huge different although they never made a dime.

I want to believe in karma. I want to believe that I’ve done far more good in my life than bad, and that I project an aura of good karma. I know when I do something nice for someone, I feel better. I have a spring in my step. It helps me get through my day.

Here’s the strangest thing – in the middle of writing this entry, my daughter called me about an issue she was having at work. She was at a crossroad and wanted my advice. She asked, “Should I do what’s best for me, or what’s the right thing to do?” She was leaning to doing the right thing, even though it would mean losing money. I told her about karma. And that doing this good deed would come back to her later.

She’s calling her boss as I type.

So, I guess I have to stop laughing at poor person who had this terrible experience. Because even if she is the meanest person on the planet, that doesn’t excuse my behavior. I don’t want any bad karma.

Perhaps I’ll send her a card. Or not.