Watch out for Karma. I'm a firm believer in it, especially here in Bali where I've witnessed it unfold firsthand, sometimes almost instantly. It's one of the reasons I'm drawn to this island life. Here, it feels like people get what they deserve, whether it's good, bad, or everything in between. Karma isn't bound by time, islands, or even continents. You got what you deserve wherever you are, whatever you did in the past. Period.
There's this painting in a café I used to go to in Ubud called Dharma, with bold green letters on a faded white wall:
'Karma: A game of frisbee of your actions. Life is an echo, what you send out comes back. So, give only what you want to receive.'
Last week, some truth was unfolded from 10 years ago when I was still in the University. I was bullied at the end of my university year by someone who used to be my closest friend. Picture this: me, the small-town kid living it up in the city, while my new Jakarta friends joked about my roots, like, 'Bet your house has sand floors and your dad's a rice farmer.' I never took that seriously; I knew they were joking. These naive 18-year-old Jakarta millennials, glued to their soap operas, believed the stereotype that people from Java are usually farmers. It never bothered me. I'd often jestingly confirm their assumptions about my village, even adding my own exaggerated stories for a laugh. I added that I used to bring a torch at 4 am crossing the river, holding my shoes in one hand and the torch in the other, so I could go to school. In the end some of them got the chance to visit my small town and saw how different it is from the image they had in their minds. But I knew that all those jokes were never intended to hurt me. We had a good laugh about it.
But when someone made false defamation about me, and it came from a close friend who sat next to me in almost every class, I have to admit, it hit me hard. It was one of the lowest things anyone has ever done to me. This so-called friend started spreading lies about me, trying to trash my rep just 'cause she was jealous. She even made this whole WhatsApp group to trash-talk me to our friends, painting this twisted picture of who I was. And I'm sitting here thinking, who's this chick she's describing? Did she even look in the mirror?
At first, I was angry and hurt. But over time, I realised her actions were a reflection of her own insecurities. Funny thing is, those same people she tried to turn against me are now apologising for buying into her nonsense. It's sad, really. Her, drowning in her own self-doubt trying to do anything she could to overpower just anyone. Sad. Just sad. It only showed me that she didn't even have respect for herself.
And you know what? I'm cool with it. Her lies didn't bother me. If anything, they made my skin thicker. They fuelled my drive to chase my dreams harder. Unlike her, who seems to have all the time in the world to spin her lies I don't have the time or space to entertain or keep someone like her in my circle. And now, hearing them all these years later, I'm just like, whatever. Karma's got its own way of sorting things out. And hey, guess what? While she was busy talking trash about me, I was out there living my best life, catching sunsets, traveled the world, twice, making real connections.
I believe Karma's all about how you treat people. Take this guy I used to know who pulled some shady moves on me. His engagement to the girl next door just weeks after our split? The timing was so suspect. But what surprised me was that it didn't even make me sad;, I felt nothing but gratitude. With a personality and changing mind like his, who knows what his deal was. But hey, good luck to them. Because I'm a firm believer that what goes around comes around. So watch your back, because Karma's got a way of catching up with you. Cheers.
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