Is your Karma Holding you back?
Written by Hendry
The house I grew up in Kathmandu didn’t have running water.
We had an underground well that would regularly get filled up with clean water on our right side yard. We used it to clean our dishes, wash out clothes, and even bathe. The run off water was funneled to the front yard, where there was a decent sized ditch to store the water so that my mother could use for her garden.
I loved playing in the garden, especially near this ‘pond’ and one day I fell head first into this murky pool of water - legs flailing up.
Luckily, my mother was working in the garden nearby and was able to yank me up by my legs. Ever since then I have been scared of murky water, and since Nepal is landlocked country I rarely had the opportunity to swim at all.
As most of might know or assume, Allee loves the ocean and grew up swimming competitively. She has taken me to many beaches and taught me how to swim. Since we’ve been living in FL across from the beach I’ve been wanting to swim out to the buoy that designates the swimming area. However, as soon as I would try I would freak out… until recently Allee convinced me and patiently swam beside me. I finally made it for the first time a few weeks ago and have done it several times since.
The word Karma means action and is often explained as every action has an equal reaction. Or everything you do comes back to you.
Growing up in the East, I l was often told that what happens to us in this lifetime is a result of accumulated karma from past lifetimes. So the ‘reaction’ to your current actions might take lifetimes. Therefore, we don’t have much choice in what happens to us.
There are 4 types of Karma:
Your total cosmic debt accumulated in past + current life
The portion of your karma you’re currently living out/ experiencing
Karma you’re creating in this very moment
Karma that will accumulate in the future based on present actions
The teachings on karma are saying that although some things are predetermined, we still have many choices that shape our reality.
Our lives aren’t 100% free will as we like to think in the West, but everything also isn’t predetermined before we are born like I was often told in the East. It’s a little bit of both. What we do now and in the future can and will change the course of our lives.
So when you doubt that you can do/ have something based on your current situation, the best advice is to try it out.
When I doubted that I could swim due to my past experiences, I had the choice to let that determine my present and future or TRY SWIMMING. And once I tried I realized I could. My karma wasn’t holding me back, I was.
Like that, we won’t know where our limitations are without testing them!