Karma, Guardian Angels, Indifference

Have you found that throughout life you have either heard or read people sharing viewpoints on why something significant happened in life in the form of references to either karma or Guardian Angels?  It has been my experience that many folks are very comfortable to reference karma yet slow to give credit to his or her Guardian Angels.  Some folks are simply indifferent to either karma or Guardian Angels or don’t want to share their views.  Personally, I am “allergic” to indifference because that to me is not a place where love can live.  Over the years, I have learned that there is a huge difference between indifference versus being unattached.  Indifference in my mind is a way of saying,” I don’t care.”  Being unattached though means making a loving choice.  I am not referring to people at all in the reference to being unattached.  Rather, it is the choice for example of being unattached to owning the outcome of anything.  No, I don’t at all mean not being responsible for actions.  What I am getting at instead is choosing to do our best, in the spirit of doing the next right thing in service of others & not being attached to the outcome.  This example speaks so vividly to me as it emancipated me in a big time way a couple of years ago.  It was when I learned through a mentor that being free of outcomes lightens our loads. 

The mentor explained that to choose to give up or be unattached from outcomes is equivalent to recovering from an addiction.  Then he went on to explain the 4 main groups of worldly addictions outside the counseling frame of reference.  As he described the first three, frankly I felt relieved because I could honestly say that I was not “addicted” or attached to any of those.  Oh, but the fourth one that he described hit me big time!  He described the addiction or attachment to good feelings.  Perhaps if I traced my family tree back there would be a link to Emily Posts because I have the “manners gene.”  Even as a young girl, I had a self imposed rule about the proper amount of time to take to send a written thank-you note, what it should contain and more.  If something came up to delay the thank-you then my guilt would absolutely consume me until I completed the cards.  Manners I adamantly believe are a treasure yet my thank-you process has been overhauled.  Just as much as I needed to get my thank-you cards done , I also use to be very gleeful when I received thank you notes.  These notes made me feel very good…good about the act of service, good about myself & just really good in general.  The flip side of this though is that if someone did not thank me for a heartfelt act of care, I felt sad.  That is where I realized that I was attached to good feelings.  That got an overhaul too once I realized this just over 2 years ago.  Instead, I learned that doing the right thing for the sake of just doing something good is the right way for me to live my life.  I got good at choosing to be unattached from the outcome of doing an act of care & simply focused on doing the right thing because it was right.  What a relief!

Have you heard people say things like, “that’s karma” or “karma will take care of that.”  “Ouch”, my brain says.  It is a gift that we have freedom over our thoughts.  And it is awesome that we can disagree with one another & remain friends.  If you are personally invested in the belief in karma, please know that I don’t mean any disrespect to you.  We will need to choose on that topic to disagree & remain friends.  I don’t believe in karma personally.  To me karma does not fit in my life.  Let’s take type 1 diabetes for instance.  Did karma give me & others this disease?  You better believe that there is no way that is true.  The truth is an adamant, no one with type 1 did anything to bring on this disease.  How about when someone says, “karma will take care of that?” “ Yikes”, my mind says to that.  If someone does something to me that is hurtful, I am not interested in karma intervening.  The only answer that makes sense to me in those situations is to forgive the person & not allow the behavior to continue.  Sometimes good things happen in our lives.  Not just good things, great things, maybe even miracles…what about those?  Are they karma?  How did we deserve those great things or miracles?  My answer for myself is that they are way beyond something called karma.  I attribute those things to God working through either my Guardian Angel or others.  For sure miracles in my life cannot be attributed to a score card that is being kept on whether I have made good choices or bad.  All I know is that they have happened because of love alone.

It is almost comical how responses can be varied when the topic of Guardian Angels is opened up.  I have had some people declare Guardian Angels to be a fairy tale or some other variation.  Then other times, folks have either been offended by the mere idea or so uncomfortable that they look like they may need to make a speedy getaway.  I find myself often in a situation of balancing out the respect for others to not feel uncomfortable along with me standing up for my beliefs.  Sometimes, the choice is for me to say nothing at all & that’s okay too in some situations.  My intention is not to offend.  As a mentor once said to me, “Saundie, choose the hill you want to die on.”  There are some matters essential for me to stand my ground on & some to merely smile, and zip it.

My belief in Guardian Angels is unshakeable.  Not only do I believe that I have a Guardian Angel, but more than that, I believe that this Angel has literally saved my life countless times.  I could never feel indifference to this since I have felt this angel’s presence & continue to so vividly.  This Angel saved my life at least 3 times before I had type 1 diabetes.  Now my Angel works 24 hours a day without sleep breaks.  There have been too many times to keep an accurate count of times that my Angel has either woke me up from sleep in the night to find out that I was in low blood sugar.  Last week, I was going to attend 2 engagements & found myself knowing that I needed to instead return home.  Within about a half hour each time, I went into low blood sugar.  It would have been more difficult to tackle & combat the low blood sugars had I not listened to my Guardian Angel.  Sometimes, we do everything just right when it comes to type 1 diabetes management & things go awry.  I will say firsthand that my hormones are messing with my diabetes big time.  The great news is that hormones are no match for my Guardian Angel.  Some people think I am a wee bit kooky when I admit my fervent belief in my super strong Guardian Angel.  I am okay with that.  It is a little like defending a friend.  If I would stand up for a friend, than how could I possibly fail to stand up for my Guardian Angel?  And I feel the presence of our sons’ Guardian Angels too & am thankful.  I won’t always be with them, but their Angels will never leave their sides.  That gives me peace for life’s journey.

My heart’s hope for you is that you know this peace too.  And may you discard indifference & embrace love.

Smiles, Saundie :)

Wishing you a peace-filled week & next Monday's sharing is "Originals & In This Together."  :)