My life is my responsibility

I am a simple girl from a traditional Indian background. We Indians by nature are proud of our religion (which comprise of infinite god and goddess), our culture (which i am still trying to define and figure out) and are strong believers in the game of ‘destiny’ (or what we call as ‘the law of karma’). When I was a teenager, what i understood about the law of Karma was that ‘if you do something wrong to others, the same will sooner or later come back to you’. And our holy book ‘Gita’ described this law as the ultimate. So, me being an ardent devotee of lord Krishna (who gave the words of wisdom captured in ‘Gita’ to his dear friend Arjuna)  faithfully applied this law to anything and everything occurring in my life.

If my mom is angry… its coz I have done some mischief or behaved irresponsibly. If its a rainy day.. its coz i wasn’t thankful enough on a summer day. If my neighbor’s dog is barking and causing nuisance.. its possibly coz i was yelling at my little brother the other day. If some random person misbehaves with me.. its coz i misbehaved with someone else or even worse.. coz i misbehaved with that person in my last birth (Gosh!!).

Well.. my cause-effect logic surrounding the law of karma went on and on, until i reached the break-even point of saneness. It was then that I realized that the fault wasn’t with the law as such, the fault was with my interpretation of the law. The word ‘Karma’ is a Sanskrit word which means ‘Action’. And as newton’s law states, ‘every action has a equal and opposite reaction’. Which means that every action of mine will have an equal and opposite reaction. My good deeds will reap me positive vibes and my bad deed will reap me negative vibe. But that doesn’t mean that anything and everything happening around me is because of my deeds alone.

My mom was actually upset coz that day was the death anniversary of her dad.. It was raining simply because it was monsoon.. The dog was barking coz it had hurt its feet. Instead of appreciating the fact and empathizing/sympathizing at the situation, I was depressed for some possible unknown action of mine. And why in the hell did i tolerate a bad behavior and that too from a random stranger!!

The mistake I was committing was reverse thinking of the law.. i.e. Every reaction (in the world) is/maybe cause of my action. In the ‘Gita’ my hero also says that ‘you have control only on your action.. leave the fruit of action to me’. I changed my focus to my action and my perspective and way of living changed altogether.

My thoughts, my actions and my life is my responsibility.. There are also thoughts and actions of millions and millions of people which I cannot control. The other person is not always sad or the situation is not always bad because of me. Rather that engaging in reverse interpretation of ‘law of karma’, get down and do your best. Sometimes it might be just to say a simple sorry or to extend a helping hand or in some situation to bless the person and just walk away.

Do your best and live in the present.. leave the rest to the infinite power which manages it all.. Enjoy life!!!