For brothers only

WE all have our own disposition, our own mind-set, our own way of living life. If you have a nice temperament, chances are you will have a nice temperament every day, no matter if it's a good day or bad day. Conversely, if you're the Brother who's always angry, you're going to exude that anger in every situation in which you find yourself. And even if the Brother is having a good day, he will no doubt find a way to ruin it, bring it down to his level. Before he knows it, his good day has turned into just another angry day.

It's called our karma, and we all exude it in one form or another. It's our personality's signature, and it's what the world uses, more than anything else, to define who we are.

So what is your karma?

Oh, you can say you're a good person with a good heart, or a strong-willed person with an unshakable mind-set, or a sensitive person with a receptive demeanor, but what you say about yourself doesn't hold much water if your karma's sending a different message.

We all know Brothers who give off bad vibes. Every time they speak, they're complaining about something--the hours at the job are always too long, the commute is always too slow and their lady is always asking for too much. This Brother frowns at the world, and waits impatiently for the day that the world will cut him a break. This Brother's not having a bad day. He's having a bad life--and it will continue to be bad until he reaches down deep into his soul, and changes the essence of who he is.

You see, try as you may to squelch your negative karma, try as you may to interchange it with one more appropriate for a particular situation you find yourself in, try as you may to imitate the karma of some other Brother, it won't work--at least not for long.

Karma is not something you can control something you can turn on and off. It's not what you do; it's who you are. Karma extends throughout our entire life experience. If you are pleasant and give off positive energy, others will pick up on that, and feed off that. If you're a grouch who is always upset, always complaining, always wishing for something to be different, be better, then you will for the rest of your life find yourself in situations that could be different, be better. You will never be satisfied, just frustrated and angry.

I can't explain it, but I've lived long enough to know it to be the case. Negativity attracts negativity. Positivity attracts positivity. Those who get the most out of life aren't those who are the luckiest, or the smartest, or the bravest, or the strongest. Those who seem to have life under control are those who will it to happen, the ones who won't let one situation, one person, get them down, take the smile from their face, the sincerity from their heart.

Changing your karma, many times is simply a matter of changing your mind-set, making a vow to yourself that you're going to be optimistic, hopeful, cheerful, buoyant, confident and open to a new way of thinking. And perhaps more importantly, it's the understanding that this change is not going to be for the next week, or the next time you meet a shorty you want to impress with your charm and charisma, but it's going to be the new you. If you give it a try, you might just find that the glass is indeed half full.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group