Do you have bad karma?

All right, I admit it.

Recently I had begun wondering if I've got Bad Karma.

After a year of two shopping cart failures costing me thousands of dollars of lost revenues, 3 major computer breakdowns putting me months behind in my work, 3 hurricanes (lucky me has been in Florida) I took refuge from putting me additional weeks behind, a 3+ month inexplicable delay by my printer in the reprinting of my books (and this is one of the largest printers in North America used by almost every major book publishers), I'm beginning to think it may be true.

Maybe I do have Bad Karma.

And, after all, you yourself may be starting to wonder about me, too.

After all, haven't I had to make repeated apologies about not yet getting all of you who have obtained The Wealthy Soul book series your bonuses of the last 18 of The 30 Gifts of Life?

So maybe, you believe I have Bad Karma, too!

And if I start thinking long enough along those lines, I begin to really think you - and the pessimistic "I" - may be right!

But then I start thinking about some other things - mainly all the blessings in my life:

* Living in a free country where there's always
enough food and a heated home
(I've spent a lot oftime in countries where there's not.)

* I do work that I love.

* I know the great joy of helping people.

* I've been given a precious Vision of what I'msupposed to be doing with my life.

* Despite daily headaches with a technology I
never quite seem to master, I see I am moving step-by-tiny-step toward my goals and toward the
unfolding of my Vision.

* I have the love of very special people in my life.

* Though I've had an incredible number of failures,
setbacks, mistakes and delays, step by step,
I have the pleasure of looking back,
seeing the long road I've traveled,
seeing I have persevered,
and seeing myself slowly succeeding
despite everthing.

The list goes on . . . as does yours.

So, you tell me . . . do I have Bad Karma?

With all the obstacles I've come up against in this last year, I've done quite a lot of soul searching, particularly with my own One Minute Miracle technique (which I will be talking more about in the future).

And what I come up with every time is . . .that I'm right where I'm supposed to be.

That my problems - though indeed incredibly frustrating - are only truly problems rather than challenges when I create resistance to them. And I do this when I don't simply accept these challenges as stepping stones to where I'm going and instead begin thinking of myself as having Bad Karma.

So, do you still think I might have Bad Karma?

Do you think YOU might have Bad Karma, too?

Have you, like me, had a lot of doggy-doo you've had to deal with lately?

I've got an interesting theory I'm beginning to develop about Good and Bad Karma - and it's come about because the more people I speak to, the more I see that WE ALL may have Bad Karma . . .

And here's the theory:

That Bad Karma doesn't come from the events that occur to us . . . but perhaps - are you ready for this? - it's more a product of us thinking that these events mean we have "Bad Karma."

Wooh! Back up, there a second, Michael. Explain.

In other words, Bad Karma is more a result of our reaction to our supposed Bad Karma - our challenges - rather than the challenges themselves!

Thus, when we create Resistance to these challenges by thinking "What did I do to deserve this?" THAT'S the Bad Karma.

So, this begs the question, what is "Good Karma?"

Isn't Good Karma simply our ability to flow with and be proactive to these challenges?

Yes, but maybe not entirely so. (Listen closely . . . this is BIG).

Maybe that is not enough.

Personally, I am - just as you may be - always proactive toward what I face . . . even though I may complain about it!

And please do not tell me not to complain! (occasional complaining is allowed. In my book it's called being authentic!).

But there is a second essential thing that you and I really need to embrace besides being proactive to have Good Karma. And here it is:

To have Good Karma, we have to shift from Resistance to Appreciation.

Now, that does not mean I should be thankful for the challenge. And telling me to be thankful DOES NOT make me FEEL any better, thank you. (Especially when it may make me feel like THROTTLING YOU for telling me that! - the attitude which, only, of course, goes to make more Bad Karma. . . )

What I do find easy and very self-empowering to do is to acknowledge the fact that I have the persistence that people with truly "Bad Karma" do not have.

So, indeed, "Good Karma" by definition is simply . . .

"The self-empowering appreciation of your own persistence in the face of your personal challenges."

So now, you tell me:

Do you indeed have "Bad Karma?"

Do I?

Can it be that the true answer is simply a matter of how we answer the question?

Yours for the greatest wealth,Michael