On Karma and Business

Yesterday was a tough day in the sense that I found myself in three different situations where either the person who wanted to deal with me seemed less than scrupulous, or the request would compromise my ethics. In each case, the situation had varying degrees of gray, so they were not easy to navigate.

However, since I found each of the three situations to be troubling, I bowed out as politely as possible. In one case, I just had to flat out say, “No, I’m not interested, please don’t ask again.� Why was it so important to weigh these situations? Well, you reap what you sow. That’s karma.

I read meditations every day to get me started. Here’s what today’s meditation – coincidentally on karma – had to say:

“If you put your finger in the fire, it will burn you. The fire is not responsible for that. The function of fire is to burn. You can use the fire for a good purpose or for a bad purpose. It’s up to you. So let us not blame [others] for everything.� – Sri Swami Satchidananda

How true. That’s definitely my experience, both in business and in my personal life. I realize that in bad situations, I am not a victim. It’s inevitable that I can trace back through the course of events and find that I did something to put me in that position. This exercise of review often lends itself to great lessons and wisdom for future endeavors.

And in the case of people who seem prosperous yet do bad things, it’s important for me to remember that money does not equate to being emotionally and mentally healthy. For example, they may be millionaires, but they also maybe untrusted and alone, or surrounded by other unscrupulous colleagues, a direct karmic result of their actions.

So while it’s always nice to please people, sometimes you have to say no. Doing the right thing must come first.

“I don’t know the keys to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

-Bill Cosby