How often, in the middle of spilling your guts to a friend, do you hear yourself repeating the same lines about this relationship — or end of such — that you did about the one before…and before that and before that and before that and…well, you get it. How many times do we fall into patterns that we swore we would not repeat?

I’m one who believes in karma. You know the term. We toss it around a lot, usually as a threat that it’s going to catch up with someone at some point (and it will). But really, karma is about cause and effect, what you put out is what you get back. Karma isn’t always a hard ass. Sometimes, karma will give us a second — or third or forth or fifty-fifth — chance. When we find ourselves in a deja vu type situation, karma is giving us another opportunity to learn. But, each time we “revisit” the lesson, it gets a bit more painful if we aren’t swift to learn it. That’s why I try to pay attention and check myself when I feel karma at the chalkboard of life. I’ve gotten the karmic knuckle-rapping before. It isn’t pleasant, let me tell you.

The great thing about going down the same road, though, is that you understand where it leads. If you know you are heading down a dark alley, you can always make a turn and go off in a different direction. And karma will likely give you a gold star for that.

So, the next time you find you’re repeating yourself, stop. Check your inner GPS and see if you are heading in the direction you really want to go and not doing yet another lap around your past.