Why do bad things happen to good people? 

It’s a bit of a loaded question. But it’s all about karma.

Firstly, “bad” things happen to all people. And secondly, when looked at in the right light, even seemingly “bad” things that happen can have some kind of positive aspect to them. 

Are there sometimes difficult, painful, even life-changing things that happen to us? Yes. 

Can we try to make the most of these situations and learn from them? Also yes. 

Of course, this isn’t always easy to see, especially when you’re going through a tough time. Sometimes we have situations in our life that seem only negative – there doesn’t seem to be any silver lining to them.

But all life is experience. Everything – good and bad – is a lesson designed to help us evolve in some way. 
In a lecture about karma, Master of Yoga Dr. George King said:

“It’s pressure, and it’s pressure which you create in your journey through evolution, or involution, which causes evolution or involution, which steers you through—pushes you through—certain experiences. 

It’s almost as though—and it’s not quite like this—but if you can imagine you are walking along a dark road, and you’re stumbling about and helping hands just appear from nowhere and seem to guide you right along that road. Karma is almost like this. 

These helping hands know what should be done and, very often, they will push you into the hedge but only because you need to be pushed into the hedge to gain the experience therefrom.”

He also said:

“So let’s be positive and say, “Ah—aren’t I fortunate to be alive in these times, with a challenge like this.” … That is the attitude to adopt. And not the negative attitude.

“There’s the glove: pick it up and be bold about it, and the world’s yours. And it definitely is. 

Man, you know, is captain of his own ship. Unfortunately too many send their ship onto the rocks. But, fortunately, many, many people guide it off the rocks into the beautiful calm waters of the island of their paradise. Let us remember that too.”

***

About ten years ago, I broke my arm. It required two separate surgeries and a lot of physical therapy. 
It was painful and expensive. 

To this day, I can’t straighten it or rotate it completely and I’m a bit limited on the weight I can lift. 
But I would say, day to day, I don’t even notice these limitations. 

When I broke it, I was extremely disappointed. I had a massage business and I thought about all the clients I was letting down. Without this business, I worried about how to pay for all the medical costs. 

But I was able to focus on the positive aspects of my life. I had a trip coming up and I didn’t want to feel limited while I was on it. So I started to think about the positive things in my life – areas where I didn’t feel any limitation. 

And looking back on that time now, I only remember the exciting events. I don’t think about any negative aspects of that time. 

More recently when I went through a rough patch, I did not take this approach. I was stressed and worried. I found that I was ruminating on what was going on. 

Because of this, it felt like the bad period lasted longer, and it was really hard. When I look back on it, I can see the lessons I learned, but it’s almost as if because I didn’t take a positive approach, I was choosing to make the lessons more painful than they needed to be. 

Going forward, I will try to take a more positive approach to difficult times.

Something you can try

Let’s try what Dr. King advised. Next time we feel we have had something negative happen, try to look for the lesson in it. And if that’s too difficult, try to feel grateful more generally – for the gift of life itself. Try to feel fortunate for the opportunities that we have in this life; for all of our blessings. 

It can be an interesting exercise to try this with past events too. Sometimes the act of doing this can help reveal a lesson that you didn’t appreciate at the time. If you look back at a time in your life that you found difficult, can you see a positive lesson that came from it?