The Circularity of Life

I do believe in Karma, or, for non Buddhists "What goes around comes around". The world is circular & so is life. You can't really get it until you are old enough to have experienced a lot of the twists & turns & put them into context.

As you reach the uplands of age you do become more reflective & begin to see the patterns emerging. So much so that sometimes it feels like "deja vue" - I have been here before, I have had this conversation before, I have done this & I know what's going to happen.

There are patterns of behaviour, of experience, learned ways of responding. We repeat what we have been taught by our parents or significant people in our childhood. As children we are a blank canvas or blotting paper. Our nurturing in the first 5 years can set the whole pattern of our personality & character for good or bad.

But - & it's a big but - we are sentient & intelligent beings. We have the capacity to learn new things, new ways of behaving. We do not have to repeat the mistakes of our parents. We can't use them as an excuse for our behaviour. Not every child from a emotionally deprived & disfunctional background turns into a criminal or a psychopath. Sometimes a challenging childhood literally forges us into successful human beings.

Breaking the Cycle needs us to recognise that a way of behaving or responding isn't the best. We need to try different responses to see what works better. Negative emotions, anger & violence just begat further negativity. If only we could respond positively, kindly, with some understanding we might, just, be able to create a better world.

Love really can conquer all. Hate & anger destroys the person who hates as well as those s/he comes into contact with.

There is certainly a lot of room for improvement.