Jinxes, Karma, and Fate

I was about 12 years old when I learned about Karma. The day is still very clear in my memory. I was driving with my mom to look at wallpaper and I was making fun of my swim coach who had just broken two of his fingers by slamming them in a car door. I remember saying, "How could someone possibly slam their fingers in the car door? How stupid do you have to be?" Do you know what happened when I got out of the car in front of the wallpaper store (not 2 minutes after I finished making fun of him)? Yep - I slammed my fingers in the car door. The door was locked and my fingers were stuck inside. I was mortified, quietly saying "mom, mom, my fingers are stuck..." I was fine, but had just been taught my very first lesson in karma.

Karma (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/karma)
1 often capitalized : the force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence


A few years later I was going out with a bunch of high school friends to a concert downtown. This guy who was supposed to drive us was a little bit of a crazy driver and I just had this feeling deep in the pit of my stomach that we were going to get in a wreck if he drove. So, I begged another friend to drive instead. What happens? We get in a wreck - it wasn't his fault, it just happened... Everyone was okay, but it was a terrible wreck that really shook everyone up. What was that - Fate? Was I going to get into a wreck that night no matter who drove?

Fate (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fate)
1 : the principle or determining cause or will by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do : DESTINY
2 a : an inevitable and often adverse outcome, condition, or end


The other day I was walking from my house to the swimming pool. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. I was about to walk down a very steep hill towards the ocean. I thought to myself, "Wow, people better be careful walking here in the rain - I bet that hill is pretty slick. Someone could really get hurt." Not two seconds later I found myself sitting on the ground, palms slightly scraped, and bottom aching. Did I just jinx myself? You would think that the fact that I was thinking about how steep the hill was would make me not fall, right?

Jinx (http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary)
1. to foredoom to failure or misfortune : bring bad luck to


So what have I learned from these three events?

Number one: Be nice - don't make fun of people for accidents they may have had. The same thing could happen to you and you wouldn't think it was funny.

Number two: Try to keep your head filled with positive thoughts. If your thoughts are going to come true - wouldn't you want them to be positive things?

Number three: Don't wear no-grip flip-flops when walking down a steep, slippery hill.